Link to Reality
by Queen of Corners
Summary: Reboot of ALfheim Arc. After everything they'd been through in SAO, Kirito and Asuna find themselves trapped in yet another virtual reality setting. This time, however, they don't quite know the requirements for getting out.
1. Chapter I

_The end of the world was right in front of us. The steel castle and the endless sea of clouds had all been erased by the bright light, leaving only the two of us behind. _

_Asuna and I hugged each other tightly, waiting for the final moment. It felt as if our emotions were being purified by the light. All that remained inside of me was my love for Asuna. I continued to call out her name even as everything was being unraveled and scattered._

_Light filled my vision. Everything was being covered by the pure white veil and disappeared after becoming tiny particles of light._

_Asuna's smile mixed in with the overflowing light that engulfed this world._

—_I love you… I love you—_

_Her voice rang out like the sweet chiming of a bell as the last of my consciousness disappeared._

_The final line that separated us disappeared and we became one._

_Our souls seeped into each other; combined, then scattered._

_Finally, we disappeared._

—_**Chapter 24, Sword Art Online Volume 1 – Aincrad**_

**Link to Reality**

Chapter I

_November 7__th__ 2024_

Black. For a single moment, everything was black.

_Is it over yet? Am I…?_

Before Kirito could finish the question currently occupying his mind, darkness around him got swapped with various arrays of color and before he could come to terms with what was happening, the space around him changed once again.

Looking around, he found himself in what might be called a dome, or rather a simple circular room filled with monitors from the top to the bottom, separated by something long and orange. He didn't notice it at first, but the floating large white letters that displayed «Welcome to ALfheim Online!» had been hovering directly in front of him and he could only wonder how he could have missed them until now.

"Eeeeh?"

He automatically took a step backwards as a virtual keyboard materialized before him.

"First enter your gender and character name," said a clear, obviously fabricated voice.

Kirito looked down at the keyboard, but before he was given a chance to react, let alone type anything, the keyboard disappeared. Just before it did, Kirito could swear that he'd seen both his name and gender already chosen. He hardly would have bothered to change it, but some sort of a warning or a button to confirm it on his part would have been appreciated.

Not a second after the keyboard disappeared, several different, three-dimensional, translucent, human-shaped images appeared.

"Now select your race. Please select one of the nine races."

Deciding to push his confusion in the back of his mind for now, Kirito took a good look at each of the offered figures, not one of them quite to his liking. The clothes were unlike anything he'd seen offered in SAO to this day and for some reason, all of the nine proffered characters seemed to have wings.

Exhaling, he chose the image that wore both dark clothes and had grey wings, wondering if this was the Afterlife. He'd heard stories before, about people believing that what comes after death changes from one person to another, perhaps according to their expectations. Somehow, Kirito didn't find it in him to feel surprised that his afterlife would be based upon a VRMMORPG.

"Your character appearance will be decided at random. You will now be transported to the Spriggan territory. Good luck."

He thought about thanking the virtual voice for the last two words as the world around him faded to white on the off-chance this might be a continuation to SAO rather than the afterlife, but would there really be any point?

Together with Asuna, he'd watch Aincrad fall apart until they'd both disappeared along with it, or so he'd thought. For some reason he'd believed that he'd feel several seconds of awful headache while the NerveGear fried his brain and after that everything would be over, but as he lost every sense of the ground and his body plummeted down head-first he realized that wasn't the case.

In the distance he could see something resembling a town. The lights flickered in the darkness of the sky, a single castle standing out as the brightest part of the city.

Kirito wondered how the bright atmosphere had suddenly changed to that of a dark night. Against the rising sensation of panic and excitement, he tried to take some control of his fall, though it proved useless as his body continued heading down in a straight line no matter what he tried to do. As he got much closer to the ground, Kirito realized that if he didn't find a way to stop, he was going to crash down hard and thinking about the height he started falling down from, it was going to cut his HP in roughly half and that was if he was lucky.

As he came to that realization, every nerve in his body felt as though it was on fire. He started screaming and frantically waving his arms around in order to, if nothing else, change his own position.

He didn't know what was going to happen if he ended up colliding with the ground full force, but certainly it was nothing good. After everything he had been through, allowing himself to lose against something so simple like a free fall seemed both stupid and ironic.

At that moment he felt as though he'd grabbed onto something with his left hand. There was an itchy sensation at his back which he chose to ignore in favor of looking down at the ground that was getting much closer, a hundred—no, seventy meters. His hand moved sharply in the right and, much to his surprise, so did his body. Kirito didn't have the time to wonder about it as he realized a moment too late that he was going to crash straight into one of the pillars surrounding the castle.

"WAAAAAAH—oof!"

Kirito wasn't about to lie and say that the impact hurt, but the force was still enough to momentarily daze him. When his back crashed against the ground several seconds later, he could pretty much add 'seeing stars' onto the list of his accumulated experiences.

With a moan, Kirito pushed himself into a standing position and looked around. Unlike what he'd expected, the town he'd fell in was filled with people. They were either walking, running or talking to each other, only several of them having noticed Kirito's embarrassing landing judging by the way they were looking at him. Kirito smiled awkwardly and scratched the back of his head and they looked away, some in amusement, some as though annoyed. What was the same about them all were the dark shades of clothing they wore, either brown, dark grey or black.

Kirito looked down at his own clothes, hoping against hope that he was still in his chosen outfit in the SAO, but no such luck. His trousers were of dark grey shade and so were the shoes, while his shirt was a plain, dark-brown one with none of the refined SAO style. If nothing else, he could feel a sheath on his back, but as he unsheathed the sword, he felt his chest tightening at the sight of a plain beginner's one-handed sword. It wasn't Elucidator. It was not the sword that had been his faithful companion for a long time.

He tried to remember what happened to his sword, but the last thing he remembered clearly before ending up on that sky platform with Asuna was his other sword, the Dark Repulsor made by Lizbeth, being destroyed due to his critical mistake while fighting Kayaba. And Elucidator… oh, right. He'd lost it just a few moments later.

Kirito's fists tightened.

If he is here, that means that Kayaba had either made a fool of both him and Asuna by making them think they'd actually won, or something… something else happened. Something he didn't know yet.

Afterlife in the form of VRMMO? What a foolish idea.

A surge of rage passed through him, but he forced the urge to scream Kayaba's name to go away.

If he was here, that meant Asuna had to be here as well. They'd disappeared together. The only thing that could have separated them was either true death or logging out, but none of those things had happened. The only other explanation he could think of was that he'd logged into another VRMMO, but for some reason had lost memories of everything that happened after the end of SAO.

Or… or not. It could be—no. He dismissed the idea without finishing it. It wasn't possible. Creating a game like SAO took a long, long time and many resources and he'd personally witnessed it all getting deleted. The possibility of Kayaba transporting him into another game as an act of revenge for losing was not possible either way he looked at it. Even if somehow he'd managed to do it, there was a great inconsistency about the very idea – one that Kirito was certain not many would accept.

He'd understood that much while fighting him. Kayaba wouldn't go against his own rules. He wouldn't go out of his way to extract revenge on somebody. Not to mention… remembering that melancholic look on his face while he watched Aincrad fall apart, Kayaba showed no shred of emotion. He was honest, however. When he'd congratulated Kirito and Asuna, he'd been honest about it, or at least Kirito wanted to think that way.

However, that still didn't answer any of his questions. Where was he? Where is Asuna? He couldn't be sure unless he approached them, but the humans around him seemed to be players, rather than NPCs. As many of them as there were, he didn't want to believe all of them were NPCs.

_So, what should I go? I can't just ask go and ask somebody if this—that's it!_

Inwardly shouting at himself for how foolish and silly he was being, Kirito brought his middle and index fingers of his right hand together and pulled down. He mentally berated himself for not thinking of it right away. No matter what, the status window should be able to give him all the information he needed. The date, the time, the name of the game if he was lucky… everything.

Unfortunately, nothing happened.

He repeated the motion twice, thrice, but nothing happened.

He started breaking out in cold sweat, repeating the motion several more times in a rush before the panic really set in and he tried with both hands.

The sound and light effect that came a moment later from where he'd used his left hand and his shoulders sagged in relief and his breathing got steadier.

"It's there, it's there," he murmured before scrolling through it.

His relief was short lived. In contrary to his expectations, he found the «log out» button at the bottom of it and that unnerved him for several other reasons. For one, would the NerveGear fry his brain if he tried to log out? He had no way of knowing, not after having every single one of his expectations blown to pieces in the past five minutes. He might go on hoping for the best, but did he have it in himself to risk it?

He shut his eyes tightly as he lightly touched the button and heard a sound effect of another window opening. He opened his eyes slowly, hesitantly, gulping down at the question «Do you wish to log out?» and the two options, «Yes» and «No», that appeared.

_YES!_

He screamed on the inside even as his finger lingered millimeters away from the touchscreen window.

Could he really do it? Could he really log out and go back to living in reality?

His hands were shaking as he debated on the inside.

Could it really be this easy?

Is it… is it finally over?

He shut his eyes again as he touched the «Yes» button. When after a few seconds nothing happened, he gathered the courage to sneak a look. Before him there was a window displaying a note: «ERROR: System can't detect the console! Try again later!»

What had he been thinking? Of course it wouldn't be that easy.

Kirito could only sigh as he closed the window and started browsing the rest of the menu. He paused when he reached the Items, looking through a long list of question marks and other nonessential signs that accounted for nothing. His inventory was shared with Asuna and vice versa so it explained why the list was so long, but it explained nothing else. He gritted his teeth before closing the status menu entirely. It was clearly going to be of no help.

_What should I do? Asuna…_

Kirito shook his head before opening the status menu again. If nothing else, he needed to get an inn for the night. He sighed as the amount of money he had was the same as back in SAO. Then he caught sight of both his HP bar and level.

"W-what?"

The space where his level should have been listed was deprived of anything, while his HP bar was deep in the red with roughly several points remaining.

"Impossible. This much from just a fall?"

He'd once lost roughly half of HP when he'd fallen into a dragon's nest with Liz, but the heights had to be ten times to the height of the tower.

Kirito shuddered. His HP, the last he remembered, was outrageously high even by his own standards. He'd been going for it, yeah, trying to raise it as high as possible to reduce his chances of losing to the death game, but here… here it seemed to be at a beginner's level, along with another bar he hadn't noticed before.

"Mana points…?"

Scrolling through the remaining of his status window, he found that every remaining skill slot was still the same as it had been in the SAO – all except for one. Where his dual wielding skill should have been was a line of question marks replacing both the name and the status itself. Muscles on Kirito's face tightened and he suddenly felt as though there was a part of him missing. He'd noticed it before, when he realized Asuna wasn't with him in this strange place, but now it seemed to increase.

He was alone.

The promise he'd made to Asuna weighed heavily on his mind.

I'll protect you – that's what he said. And he'd failed, in more ways than one. Granted, she was fine in the end, alive, the last he'd seen her, but he didn't want to let something like that happen again. Never again. Now, though, here he was, alone in a strange world with no Asuna in sight.

Forever together – that's what she said. In his heart, he'd promised he'd make it that way, yet not ten minutes later, she was gone.

I'll find you – that's what he decided. Because no matter what the reason behind his inability to log out now was, he refused to let that stop him from reaching Asuna. System failed to stop her from saving him. He'll be damned if he let a system stop him from finding her.

That settled, he still needed a plan and any information he could possibly gather about what sort of a virtual world this was. Attracting attention was hardly going to be of help and playing solo now, when he still knew absolutely nothing, was going to be difficult. Posing as a newbie might get him in trouble, but he was confident he could take care of himself.

An outline of a plan steadily forming in his mind, Kirito headed in a random direction, deciding to take a room in the first inn he found. He needed the time to think and standing in the middle of a city wasn't going to be of much help.

* * *

**Author's Note**: Yes. As you can see, it is another one of the 'Kirito ends up in ALO right after SAO' stories. So far I've seen two stories with similar premise and I've gotta say I'm a bit disappointed. So yes, I decided to play my own version of ALfheim AU story premise. It was a promising arc, really, but it could have been handled better. Sugou as a bad guy had much more potential, for one.

Anyway, I'm not going to rant. I'm a big SAO LN fan and I feel both the light novels and anime had told a really good story. I know this can't measure up to the original, but here I am, trying either way. Do me a favor, readers, if you spot any grammar or spelling mistakes, tell me. I try, but some things might still slip through.

P. S. Don't kill me for abbreviations. I just can't get myself to type hit points instead of HP and the like.

Reviews are appreciated. Credits for the image go to the amazing MangoTiango from deviantart!


	2. Chapter II

_Taken all I could take  
And I cannot wait  
We're wasting too much time  
Being strong, holding on  
Can't let it brings us down  
My life with you means everything  
So I won't give up that easily  
I'll blow it away, blow it away  
Can we make this something good?  
Cause it's all misunderstood  
Well, I'll try to do it right this time around_

—_**Daughtry – It's Not Over**_

**Link to Reality**

Chapter II

_November 7__th__ 2024_

ALO. That was the name of the game Kirito was currently stuck in. He'd learned that much just by walking down the street. It wasn't an in-depth knowledge he'd needed as he had no idea what the letters stood for, but it was more than he'd known when he'd first arrived about an hour ago.

Streetlights lit up the long and narrow alleys of the town, bathing the walkways in soft orange light. It created a warm, welcoming impression to everyone walking the dirt roads, much more so than what there'd be if the sun was up. Most of the buildings were two-storey high and occasionally you could pass by an alley not even noticing it unless you were specifically looking for it. The occasional inn one could pass by reminded Kirito of the cheaper ones in the lower levels in Aincrad, but that was where the resemblance ended. The town itself seemed to be several times the size of the Town of Beginnings back in SAO and while it was nothing odd to see people in the streets, none of them seemed to pay attention that it was night.

He'd thought about finding an inn, but after noticing that his status window had two different clocks and the one that displayed time in the real world was a little past four PM, he decided to take a better look around.

Another thing that struck him as odd and that was that he had yet to see a group of three or more people passing by. Most of them were either in groups of two or walking alone, but another thing they had in common was that they'd only stop for a short time, before spreading their wings and flying away.

Yes. _Flying_ away.

He'd seen several people do that and now there was an irresistible urge inside him to try it out. Problem was that he didn't have any idea how.

He'd thought about consulting an in-game manual, but he knew from experience that those things could sometimes be so vague that they were hardly of help. In other words, there was one thing he could do to gain quick and simple information, rather than the extensive and dull ones the system might be offering.

He observed one of the players walking ahead of him as she activated her wings and took off. The other girl shook her head and then her own wings materialized and she crouched as though she was intending to jump.

"H-hey!"

The girl turned her head around on reflex and Kirito was relieved that his call hadn't gone unnoticed.

Four translucent grey wings moved a little, but the female player didn't attempt to fly away. Instead, she looked at Kirito in genuine confusion.

"How do you… ah, how do you do that?" he asked.

The girl looked from one side to the other as though looking for somebody else Kirito might be talking to, but there was nobody aside from them in the alley. The plaza a block or two behind her was filled with people, though.

"Are you talking to me?" she asked, her voice not quite matching her looks. It was high and more like a voice of a child while she looked to be at least several years older than Kirito. Granted, it was hard to make guesses with avatars, but one thing that stood out was the fact she was about a head taller. Her outfit also looked a whole lot more refined and the charcoal body-tight dress matched her short hair. She had a dagger strapped to the belt on her waist and a short-sleeved black jacket covering her shoulders.

Kirito looked up at her face. A pair of amber eyes was looking at him the way one would look into a stuffed bear walking into a café.

Scratching the back of his head, he said, "Yeah. Well, I was wondering, how did you do that? With the wings…"

"Oh… that."

She straightened and turned to face him, all traces of wonder and confusion momentarily erased.

"Are you new to ALO?"

"Well… something like that," Kirito admitted.

She smiled.

"No wonder it's strange to you then. Don't worry, it's not very hard. For starters, you should use flight controller. Just… I'm no good when explaining. I'll show you and you try to imitate."

She moved her left hand as though grabbing for something and an object akin to a joystick appeared in her hand. Her wings glowed brighter.

Kirito blinked, then did the same thing. A small controller appeared in his hand and a strange, itching, but not unpleasant sensation went through his back.

"So those are wings, huh."

"Yep. To fly, pull it and to land, push it away. To go faster you have to keep pressing the button. Turning left and right, well, that's pretty much logical, no?"

Kirito nodded as he inspected the controller, agreeing to her words absent-mindedly.

"Remember to land when your wings look like they're about to stop shining. You gotta let them rest as you don't want to end up falling from too high. It depletes your HP faster than even Salamander fire magic."

"Fire magic…?"

She didn't appear to hear that part as she continued to give him more reasons why falling from high places would be bad as though he was a true beginner, although he might as well be with how much information he had on this place. Then he realized something, interrupting her in half the sentence.

"You weren't about to do that."

"Eh?"

The girl blinked, taken aback at her lesson being interrupted.

"You were going to fly without the controller. So how does that work?" Kirito asked.

She blinked again, confusion evident on her face, then her lips parted as she realized what he was talking about. She smirked, eyes gleaming in amusement. "Pretty sharp, aren't you? Well, that's something called voluntary flight. It's reserved for the experts." She winked and turned away, stretching her arms. "I'm in a bit of a hurry now. Don't forget to add me as a friend. Name's Dana."

"Eh… ehh—"

"Come on, I don't have all day."

Kirito took a step backwards at the sharp look she sent him and quickly found the option to send a friend request. The player – Dana – grinned at the window that appeared before her as she accepted the invite.

"Ki-ri-to… hmmm… Okay." She kept scrolling for a few moments before suddenly exclaiming, "Two-hundred and thirty-nine! Yatta! Thanks! Gotta go!" She crouched, kicking off the ground hard enough to raise dust. Several seconds later, he couldn't make a difference between the glow of her wings and the starry sky.

A half-smile on his face, Kirito looked back in his hand and summoned the flight controller again.

The controls sounded pretty basic. He pulled the controller towards him and immediately he was airborne. He'd pulled too hard, he realized as he'd launched into the air in what felt like breakneck speed. He remembered the jumps he could pull of back in SAO, crossing very large distances in only a single one, but not even that could compare to a sensation of there being absolutely nothing under his feet.

He used the controller to fly in circles several times, to get more accustomed to the thrilling sensation, then he thought up of one thing he could do, but for that…

What did Dana say about landing again…?

Oh, right. She didn't mention anything.

It took him several minutes to fully adapt to the controls and get a hang on flying and the best thing was that once he did, he no longer wanted to land. Flying as high as he could, as fast as he could, he performed spins and turns and dives which he would never be able to do anywhere else. At that moment, he didn't have it in himself to care about the people down at the plaza who might be looking at him.

He felt free – of confinement, both social and mental – something he hadn't felt in a long time.

_This is it! With these wings I'll be able to find you, Asuna! _

With that in mind, Kirito flew higher and higher as though to test the limits of where they could take him.

* * *

_November 8__th__ 2024_

The clamoring in the pub was awfully loud, cheerful and excited. People, or rather fairies, both players and NPCs, were constantly coming in and out, drinking and laughing as though they scarcely had anything to worry about.

As Asuna walked down narrow passage between the tables, she thought this was hardly a fitting place for her. She remembered what she'd been thinking when she had agreed to go for a drink with the one person who has been her only source of information ever since she had first appeared in that place, the previous day, but the longer she spent inside of that small, cozy pub, the more she felt as though she didn't belong.

"Want to sit there?" her companion, a fellow Undine player named Tramp, asked with a quick gesture towards one of the free table in the furthest corner.

"Anywhere is fine," Asuna replied. She would normally be picky about places depending on the shading of the light or the interior of the pub, or rather would not walk into anything less than a fancy cafe, but things had stopped being normal once she'd ended up in the death game of «Sword Art Online». She was free now, or at least technically so, but at the moment she did not have it in herself to go around picking seats. Her mind was too focused on the reason why she agreed to that and all she wanted now was more information.

Tramp shrugged in response, leading towards the table in a casual stroll. As they sat down, he took an order for both of them then leaned on his elbows with a silly grin.

"So…?"

Asuna's gaze wasn't lacking any emotion, but it was still detached enough to make even his smile wither a little.

She'd met Tramp last night when she accidentally crashed into him while she was trying to handle the flight controller on her own and had gotten a crash-course from him on how to do it without ending up crashing into people all the time and Asuna was grateful for that. She had continued asking him questions about ALO – the game otherwise known as ALfheim Online – and its systems, goals, rules and everything else she could have come up with at the time. By that point she had already been aware of her inability to log out and, in all honesty, she hadn't been too surprised.

Tramp had been rather helpful, giving her all the information she had asked for along with managing to lift her spirits a tiny bit with his happy-go-lucky, absolutely blaze attitude on many things, so when he'd asked her if she was in the mood for a drink tomorrow afternoon, she couldn't quite find a good enough reason to turn him down. Looking at him now, she realized she might have made a mistake.

He was smilingly contentedly, light brown hair disheveled and sticking out in all possible directions, a pair of blue eyes not once looking straight at her. He was slightly taller than Asuna and much broader in shoulders, but compared to some other people she'd had the chance to meet, he was hardly an imposing figure. Rather, he seemed more like a person that was entirely comfortable in his own skin whether it was the real world or the virtual one. Even now his fingers drummed against the table as though he was playing a piano while he waited for Asuna to say something. She complied.

"It's my treat," she informed him with dignity.

Tramp grinned as though he'd been waiting for that.

"Accept it, girl, you're a noob. You don't have enough money for that," he said lightly and his eyes twinkled in amusement as if he were enjoying making Asuna feel uncomfortable. Perhaps she was just too good at judging people for her own good, but she could see that he meant nothing more than to lightly tease her.

"I have more than you'd think," she replied as she put the menu down. "Which is why this should be my treat. I admit it, you've helped me a lot, so at least let me do that much."

"Hell no! I ain't gonna let myself get treated to a drink by a girl. Where's the courtesy in that?"

"Are you going to continue being this tiring or will I have to draw a weapon?"

"We're in the middle of Undine territory. You can't reduce my HP."

"It doesn't mean I can't knock you out if I really want to," Asuna pointed out.

"You're doing that by just looking at me."

"… I think I asked you to stop with the lame pick-up lines."

"Right, so you did. Ah, here are our drinks. Cheers?"

Asuna could only exhale as she lifted her cup. She'd come with every intention of asking him more questions, but only now she realized she had run out of questions that players could answer.

She'd learned all she could about the use of magic, the flight, the goal of ALO, the general outline of the characters and their roles along with many other things. Questions that bothered her, rather than the questions about the game itself, was why her SAO stats had been carried over, along with her and Kirito's Items, Equipment and even her friend list, although everyone listed there were clearly disconnected. She also wanted to know how come she ended up here after what had taken place on the seventy-fifth floor of Aincrad, but she couldn't very well expect Tramp to be able to answer any one of those questions. But the answers for which she would give absolutely anything concerned nothing else but a certain swordsman who'd been with her until her very last moments in SAO.

_Kirito-kun…_

"You okay?

Asuna lifted her head, realizing she'd drifted in thought. She waved her hand easily.

"I'm fine. Just thinking," she said.

"You're not drinking," he pointed out.

"I am," Asuna corrected, then lifted her cup and took a long gulp on the liquid inside.

Unlike what she'd been expecting, the liquid itself was rather sweet, reminding her of the Belgian hot chocolate she'd drank once, a long time ago. It couldn't compare to some of the things she had made back during SAO, but the high price was justified seeing how bland the tastes in Virtual Reality could be.

"Are you planning on logging out?" Tramp asked as he took a gulp of his own.

Asuna shook her head. "Not yet. I—I'm still looking for somebody."

"Right, you've mentioned that. You have them on your friend list?"

"… Yes. He doesn't appear to be logged in, though," Asuna murmured as she entered her friend list and scrolled through it, her finger gently resting when it reached Kirito's name. The name, like all others, was dull and grey, not showing anything that might be able to hint that he was trapped inside of this game with her.

She noticed a strange, thoughtful look on Tramp's face for a moment before it went back to his neutral grin. What he said next had her feeling pretty idiotic, but hopeful all the same.

"Did you try clicking on it or you're just looking at the list? Because that list won't show you whether somebody is logged in unless you specifically click on the name."

"E… Eh?!"

Tramp's hands hit hard against the table and Asuna instinctively lifted her cup so the drink wouldn't spill.

"Don't tell me you didn't know that!" he wailed.

"I-I can't help it! The last game I played had a very different system!" she said in her defense.

"Mother of god, I thought you were an ALO novice, not a complete and utter one!"

"I am not! I just—I don't play that much!"

Asuna cringed on the inside, realizing herself how far that was from the truth. No matter which way she looked at it, it was impossible for Tramp to have spent more time playing games compared to her in his entire life, not that he was going to know that.

"Okay, fine," he said with a slight nod. "At least you know now, if nothing else. So are you going to IM him?"

"Eh? What?"

"IM – Instant—"

"I know what that means," Asuna interrupted him. "What makes you think I would try doing that in the first place?"

Tramp shrugged, taking another gulp of the drink. "Aaah! Too good... Back to the subject, in your position, that's what I'd do. If I've got a friend from RL here and listed as friend, the first thing I'd do is send an IM. It's called common sense. Ever heard of it?"

"Now you're just being rude," Asuna mumbled as though bothered, but she couldn't help the hope springing in her chest. She was moments away from opening the window and doing exactly what Tramp suggested, but she was holding back. Whether it was fear or apprehension, or just the fact that she was not alone, Asuna couldn't make her heavy fingers lift in order to start typing. The Undine sitting across her rolled his eyes and it wasn't difficult for Asuna to guess that he might as well be reading her thoughts from the look on her face.

"I promise I won't look," he said sarcastically.

"That's not the problem," she grumbled.

He shrugged in response then opened his status window. Asuna blinked when a moment later a window popped up in front of her, indicating a friend invite. She looked at him and Tramp distinctively avoided meeting her gaze.

"You said you'd think about it," he offered as an explanation.

"I know," Asuna said quietly as she glanced back down at the translucent window. "Just so we're clear, I'm taken," she added as she accepted.

"I don't care," Tramp replied in a sing-song voice. Then his eyes widened. "Ow, crap. It's two already! I gotta go. Some friends are waiting for me and—"

"You've told me that before," Asuna interrupted him.

"… So I did. Anyway, I should be logging in later this evening so see you then."

Asuna gave no way to greeting as he stood up in a rush and headed towards the inn he'd rented to log out. He was already on his way and Asuna had different things to worry about. She tried paying for the drinks, a part of her hoping he'd forgotten in haste, but the pop-up window told her the drinks were already paid for. How, she didn't try think about.

Instead she opened her friend list and once again searched for Kirito's name. This time she touched it and a window that opened gave her a pretty basic info on his account. Much to fulfilling her hopes, there was a small, green dot resting right next to his name and Asuna couldn't help the feeling of giddiness building inside of her as she opened the IM window without thinking.

«I don't know how it happened, but it seems I ended up in some other kind of a VRMMO. Where are you, Kirito-kun?»

She'd quickly clicked on the send button and twirled her thumbs, hoping for something, anything at all that might be of help. Several minutes she sat down at the pub alone, unable to move as though she feared his message might not reach her if she did – all while players around her spent their time by laughing and drinking and generally enjoying their time inside of this strange world.

A response from Kirito arrived quickly, although for Asuna every second had felt like eternity.

«I'm not too sure about my location, but it's somewhere in the Leprechaun territory, I think. Tell me where are you, I'm coming right away!»

_Leprechaun territory? _

Asuna opened the basic map that existed in her inventory and looked carefully. Kirito's race was listed as Spriggan, so why would he be somewhere in the middle of…? No, that didn't matter. He was too far and neither of them would probably know which direction to take. She'd heard from Tramp that to get better maps one had to take part in quests and Asuna quite frankly didn't have the will to waste her time on that. A thought came to her, then and she started rapidly typing.

«I have a better idea. At this rate, we're too far and we don't know our way around. It would be for the best to meet at the World Tree, at Arun. Even the maps we have can lead us there. It's also neutral territory so the risk of conflicts is minimal.»

This time, an answer came much, much faster and it melted Asuna's heart to see it.

«I'll be there» was what the message said.

Asuna couldn't help but smile, all while she thought, _So will I. I promise you that._

* * *

**Author's Note: **Forgive my lack of proofreading. I was in a hurry to release this chapter so any and all grammar and spelling mistakes will be corrected shortly.

On a brighter note, I'm glad I've stirred up the fandom a bit and thanks to everyone for supporting this WIP by putting it on alters and faves and by reviewing. You're awesome!


	3. Chapter III

_"Never bend your head. Always hold it high. Look the world right in the eye."_

—_**Helen Keller**_

**Link to Reality**

Chapter III

_November 8__th_

Asuna held out a rapier, lifting it up so that she could get a proper look. The long, slender blade shone brightly in the light of the rising sun, its beauty undeniable. It looked as though it was made of silver and unlike the last one she'd used, this one lacked proper protection for the hand. Instead there were rings extending from the crosspiece in elegant fashion. It would still protect the hand holding it, unless somebody managed to perform a very precise hit.

"How much did you say it is?" she asked to the Leprechaun boy selling it.

"Err… fifty-two thousand…"

Asuna took a sharp breath at that and looked up at the blade with whole new sense of appreciation. It felt light and natural in her hand, but also firm and mighty.

"It's okay," the boy said quickly. "You don't have to act interested anymore. God knows I've seen enough people do it."

Asuna wasn't acting, though. She frowned lightly and without letting go of the sword asked, "Why is it so expensive?"

"The stats ended up being higher than planned," the boy explained. "It's player-made so stats are generally random, but it ended up being a whole lot stronger than intended."

_I see. That makes sense…_

"Why are you selling it, then, if you don't mind me asking? It is a really good sword."

The boy gave an awkward smile then scratched the back of his head. "I tried using it a bit, but it's hard, switching from a two-handed double-edged longsword to a one-handed rapier. I figured I was better off sticking with what I knew and selling this. There aren't many people interested, though, since it's a really high price. Some gave up, others tried to get me to lower it, but I won't. This is actually the third territory I'm visiting since I've started travelling in order to sell it…"

Asuna looked from the rapier towards the boy, then from the boy to the rapier, assessing the little bit of information that she had. There was a history behind his possession of this sword, she was sure of it. Something told her it wasn't made by the boy, but she didn't know how to breach the subject. Asking bluntly would be impudent of her and asking him why he set the price so high might make her look overbearing. She had already made her decision. Nothing he said could make her change her mind and he seemed pretty desperate to sell it, anyway.

"I'll take it," she said with a smile.

"EH?" The Leprechaun boy's eyes were wide as tennis balls and were coincidentally of the same color. "Really?"

"It is a beautiful sword. It would be a waste not to," Asuna explained as she opened the trade window.

"You're starting to sound like some of those sword maniacs… You're far nicer, though," the boy muttered in awed voice as he accepted the transaction.

Asuna smiled awkwardly. "Thanks, I suppose."

"It was nice doing business with you!"

Asuna accepted the sheathe he gave her and returned the rapier in it, then gave a hand salute before turning around and going the other way.

Now that she had everything she needed, there was nothing stopping her from heading to Arun. She thought about looking for the better maps, but spending time by doing quests would be another waste and finding somebody who might be selling them could take even longer. She had already wasted several hours by looking for a better sword than the beginner one she'd gotten and although the rising sun indicated it was dawn in ALO, the clock in her status window told her that in the real world it was evening.

_Oh, right… Wasn't I supposed to be doing something now?_

"Asuna! Oi, Asuna!"

She turned around to see Tramp running towards her, then smiled awkwardly.

_That's right… I completely forgot._

He stopped running and took a deep breath, then said, "I see you got a weapon. Planning something?" With a lazy move he indicated at the sheathed rapier now fastened to the waist of her blue-white outfit.

"Actually, I was just about to mention that. I'm leaving town," Asuna said as they started walking down the busy street filled with street vendors.

Tramp nodded thoughtfully as he stepped over a bump in the road.

"So I guess you got in touch with that friend of yours… Where are you going?"

Asuna didn't verbally respond. She turned to the outline of the large tree far off in the distance with a determined look in her eyes. It didn't matter in what part of ALfheim one was. So long as they weren't underground, seeing the World Tree was possible even from the most distant corners.

Tramp whistled appreciatively.

"Hmm, Arun… That's a pretty long way off, though. You're going alone?"

"I was intending to, yes."

"Then I suppose you won't mind if I keep you company. You're a total beginner. You wouldn't even reach the Butterfly Valley without somebody watching your back."

_Thanks for the vote of confidence,_ Asuna thought. Instead, she said, "I can take care of myself," trying to sound as reasonable as possible.

"Didn't seem that way when you lost half your HP because of your bad flying skills," he pointed out with a chuckle.

Asuna stopped walking, stomping her foot against the ground.

"It was my first time! I assure you, I'm much better now!"

Tramp regarded her with a short, amused look. "So you are, huh." He smirked. "Or so you think."

"I _know_," Asuna insisted.

"Then I don't suppose you would mind me testing it out?"

Asuna blinked at the window that popped up before her right that second and looked up at Tramp's confident smirk.

"You want a duel?" she asked in dry voice. "Here? Now?"

"Do you mind? We can do it somewhere else if you'd like? I don't particularly care about where."

Asuna clutched her fists and gave him a long, cold and assertive look, but Tramp didn't wither in the slightest. His posture changed a little, making him look ever more relaxed than he'd initially seemed.

"Here is fine," she decided as she accepted the duel and chose the 'Half-loss-mode'. Back in during the SAO, dueling was the only way to reduce the HP of a player in the middle of a safe zone. There existed three types of it, the «First-Strike mode» in which the winner was the one who scored a first hit, the «Half-loss-mode» in which the loser was the player whose HP dropped below fifty percent and the final, the «Total-loss-mode» which was essentially a battle to the death. System here didn't seem to differ much. Asuna had nearly pressed the first option, but she knew Tramp wouldn't be satisfied with that. _She_ wouldn't be satisfied with that.

"It'll be worth it, having all these players see the look on your face when you lose," she said as the one-minute countdown started and the nearby players gathered around to watch.

"I won't lose," he assured her.

Asuna drew her rapier, falling into a stance she was most comfortable with. Her right leg retreated a step back so that she could kick off the ground with all of her strength the moment the countdown reached zero and her rapier was in the air, it's blade gleaming in Tramp's direction as though to tell him he had no chance in winning this game.

She didn't know yet whether this game, along with magic, had any sword skills, but she didn't feel them to be necessary after spending two years in SAO. The reason she got that nickname, 'The Flash', was for a very good reason and not even Kirito could measure up to her speed. One of the reasons for that was that instead of fighting the system assist or simply relying on it during the performance of the swords skills, Asuna had a habit of going along with it. She had no doubt that her mind and virtual body remembered exactly how the skills work, system assist or no system assist.

The countdown reached thirty seconds.

"If I win, you delay your trip to Arun a bit and help me finish that quest in the east forest," Tramp suddenly said.

"And if I win?" Asuna asked carefully after just looking at him for a few seconds, trying to understand what he was thinking, but it was pointless.

"I go with you, but you're in charge. That's fair, no?"

"I… I can work with that."

Ten seconds.

Tramp finally took a stance, but it was unlike anything she'd been expecting. He was a one-handed sword user and from the look of it, his sword was made for speed, rather than strength. It couldn't be nearly as fast as Asuna's rapier, but it was a sword typically used when somebody wanted to use a shield along with it.

On the other hand, Tramp's free hand held nothing. He was flexing his fingers and his knees were bent, but the position itself had no practicality. Perhaps that was because he was not a skilled sword user, but the look on his face could be called nothing but relaxed, as though he had the complete confidence he'd win this.

_Or wouldn't care even if he lost_, Asuna amended.

Five.

Asuna remembered an unwritten rule back in SAO. You didn't have to wait for the countdown to end before you attack. So long as your attack didn't connect before the countdown ended, everything was in accordance to the rules. She wondered whether that worked in ALO as well, but she didn't wish to use that unfair knowledge to her advantage against somebody who'd helped her out so much.

…Two… one…

Asuna kicked off the ground as soon as window announced it was time and the crowd cheered. As she'd been expecting, there was a look of momentary shock on Tramp's face, but he managed to bring his sword up in time to parry. He pushed her away then jumped back to make distance between them.

He was strong. That push was all it took for Asuna to understand that she'd underestimated him greatly. The strength he used to force her back couldn't have been a half of what he was capable of, though she refused to let that stop her.

Asuna leaped to attack, her body unconsciously doing the pre-motion to a sword skill from SAO, «Linear». The lack of light effect made it clear that Sword Skills didn't exist in ALO, but Asuna didn't spare a moment to think about it. Tramp managed to parry again, but there was no delay to Asuna's following diagonal outward slash. He managed to duck in the last second, only several of his hairs remaining to drift in the air before disintegrating.

Asuna could have screamed at herself when she realized what sort of an opening she'd given him, but Tramp was too slow to take it. If he'd been a second faster, Asuna's attempt at parrying would have been useless and he would have gotten the first strike. He wasn't and his attack didn't carry over much power, rather as if he tried using an opening he never thought he would get, which was very likely the case. It just served to prove that his reaction time was good, but actual skill not so much.

"You're pretty good," he said as she backed off to prepare for another attack.

"You're better than I expected."

She'd thought about finishing this in the first two hints, but she had greatly underestimated him. Taking him seriously might be the best way to do it now.

"Hey, is that a compli—"

He was forced to halt his question as Asuna's rapier nearly caught him unprepared. He parried at the last second and finally seemed to be getting serious. That was good.

Asuna drew her sword back before he got a chance to do anything other than yelp, then she put all her strength into performing what should have been a one-handed sword skill back in SAO, a diagonal slash named «Slant». Tramp's unsteady stance from his previous block stopped him from parrying and although his hand did not let go of the sword, he was completely open at the front.

Twisting her wrist to the best of her ability, Asuna changed the direction of her sword and managed to thrust her rapier, hitting him straight into the chest. The damage she dealt was enough to destroy his chest armor and reduce a significant amount of his HP, but not enough for her to gain victory.

Tramp looked stunned. When he looked at Asuna, she saw it clearly in his eyes, that he hadn't expected this.

That look was gone quickly.

"Is that how you want to play?" he asked with a smirk. "Good!"

What followed were several words in a language Asuna never heard before and several fireballs came at her direction.

The fireballs weren't very fast, but it was the surprise of seeing Tramp perform that what slowed Asuna's reaction. She managed to get out of the way for the first and the second one, but third one came too fast. As her only way of defense, she lifted her rapier and tried cutting through it, but the fireball exploded on impact with her weapon and the force of the explosion sent her flying. In the high corner, Asuna saw several of her Hit Points were gone. Only then she noticed the fourth attack coming straight at her unprotected chest.

"How'd ya like that, huh?" Tramp shouted triumphantly.

She managed to keep herself from falling by bending forward and slowing down by using her free hand, but the attack had taken away her precious HP, leaving her only several points away from the yellow zone and consequently her loss.

Frowning, Asuna used the chance provided by her position to propel herself forward at even greater speed.

If he continued using magic against her, Asuna realized she was going to lose. The very thought seemed unnatural to her as Tramp lacked absolutely anything that could be called a skill with a sword in the broadest sense, but magic was a variable that she had never encountered before. Slashing through it obviously wasn't going to work so she needed some other plan to finish this quickly.

She reached for her controller on the off chance she might get advantage from being in the air, but the following magic attack scorched her left hand before she could have done it. Her momentum gone, Asuna toppled down and managed to keep from falling solely by relying on her knee. She looked up to see Tramp reciting another spell and her HP a single point away from losing the duel.

Renewed determination took form inside of her.

"No way! I'm not going to lose!"

She leaped forward, her body moving on its own, initiating what in SAO would be a sword skill named «Star Splash». Her first thrust was met with a hasty defense that would have rendered her attack useless if she were back in SAO where sword skills could be interrupted if the sword was pushed out of its route, but this was not SAO. There was nothing to stop the following two thrusts and even though Tramp tried, he failed.

What followed next was Asuna crouching low, sending two slashes at his undefended legs. The armor was destroyed and some damage was dealt, but Asuna wasn't finished yet. She jumped, performing two strong jabs, one high and one low, against which Tramp was completely undefended, then she poured all her strength into the final stab. He managed to lift his sword and even level it at the place where Asuna was going to hit, but as Asuna's rapier hit with all her strength pushing it forward, nothing stopped it from passing right through Tramp's weapon and into his chest.

Asuna drew it back immediately and returned it into its sheathe, thankful that Tramp's sword was the one to absorb most of the attack power, but combined with her previous hits, that last stab of hers just finished the duel. Tramp stared at the broken sword in his hand while the other broken half dispersed into rainbow-colored polygons, then disappeared. The remaining half was gone a second or so later.

Somewhere above their heads, a notice about the winner of the duel appeared and the sounds that Asuna had habitually tuned out before now came back with full force. Everyone present were either cheering or shouting something, but she wasn't listening. She was looking at the face of fifteen, maybe sixteen year old Undine player as he still uncomprehendingly looked in his empty hand.

"Are you okay?" she asked hesitantly. His HP was in the red zone, but that could be recovered. She wondered if perhaps she'd overdone it, though. He would have lost just by parrying her final attack. She probably shouldn't have broken his sword.

Tramp looked up at her, eyes wide. Blinking several times, he tilted his head and then quickly shook it.

"Wow. Just… wow."

The crowd was starting to disperse now that the duel was over, but Asuna heard several people yell out, "Good job, girl" or something of the sort. A few remained, still watching in curiosity and amusement what was to take place.

Asuna herself wasn't certain what to think because Tramp wouldn't look at her, but once he did, she saw something she vaguely recognized, having seen it on other people's faces before, usually just before the troublesome situations happened. Admiration. A whole lot of it.

Unconsciously she flinched back, realizing what was to come a moment before it did.

"W-wow, Asuna! Amazing! Just… what was that? For a moment you were there, then you were up, then down then you just broke it… my sword… how did you do that?!"

_I created a monster._

Asuna took a step back, her fingers itching to reach the hilt of her rapier as Tramp took several steps forward. Her eyebrow twitching, she was half expecting him to grab her hand, vowing she'd sever it even if it killed his avatar if he dared to, but he stopped and groaned.

"I can't believe I lost. I figured you'd be good, but damn, you're just… like whoa. Anyway, give me few minutes to log out, I have to do something, but then I'll be back and we can get on our way to the World Tree."

Asuna never got a chance to say anything as he opened his status window and disappeared. She blinked, realizing she was still standing as though she was preparing to draw her weapon. Flexing her shoulders, she forced her body to relax while she waited, her mind blank except for a single sentence.

_What just happened?_

"Err, excuse me."

Asuna turned to her left to see an Undine girl standing there, an awkward smile on her young face. Her hair was of similar shade like Asuna's – blue – but it was much shorter and tied in two tails falling over her shoulders while her disheveled bangs nearly fell in her eyes, completely obscuring a large part of her face. The clothes she wore were of brown and lavender shading, unlike most of the Undines, insinuating that it was either player made or specifically designed, and she was a little less than a head shorter than Asuna.

"Y-yeah?" Asuna murmured, wondering what this girl could possibly want from her.

"My name is Ame. I really wasn't intending to eavesdrop, but I heard you and your friend talking about going to the World Tree and… well, I was wondering, can I come along? This group I used to party with is far more focused on staying either in this territory or the Imp territory on the south, but I'm really not that interested into PvP so can I please come with you?"

Asuna would later wonder why she'd done it, not understanding herself in the least as she wanted to get to Arun as fast as she possibly could and having Tramp along was already going to slow her down, but somehow she couldn't say no to this girl. Maybe because there was certain liveliness and openness to her that she'd so far only seen in Liz, but Asuna just couldn't deny her.

"Yeah, I suppose so," she said in slow, quiet voice. "I… I can't see why not."

Oh, she could see. She could see it all too well. She just wouldn't.

The girl – Ame – grinned, reminding her of that silly grin that would appear on Liz's face from time to time, although any other likeness between the two girls might as well be completely inexistent.

"Thanks, Asuna! By the way, that fight just now was amazing! I'd ask you to teach me how to do it, but I prefer daggers. So are we going to go right now or you just have a plan on going eventually?"

The questions went on and on and Asuna could only smile nervously and reply to the best of her abilities. She was almost grateful when she saw Tramp logging in again.

"So are we going or what?" he asked, oblivious of the other girl's presence of purpose.

"It looks like we have another person coming with us," Asuna replied in order to rectify that. "Tramp, meet Ame. Ame, this is Tramp."

"Nice to meet you," Ame said with a grin.

"Ehh—yeah, you, too." He nodded to Ame, totally lacking in his usual exuberant tendencies.

If her eyes weren't playing tricks on her, Asuna just witnessed Tramp looking a bit overwhelmed and tiny bit uncomfortable. Then he looked at Asuna strangely, making her realize that her eyes were playing tricks on her after all. He was just put out, though even that should be enough.

"Hey, what's that all about? I had to duel you just so you'd agree to let me come. How come she gets off without that?"

Asuna smiled, realizing there were maybe some benefits to having Ame come along after all.

"If I remember well, it was you who challenged me first. I never said you couldn't come."

"B-but that's—!"

"Perfectly fair," Asuna interrupted him. "Unlike you, Ame at least remembered to ask nicely without trying to make me feel inferior. Now, are we going to go or what?"

Tramp stood rooted to the spot with his mouth half open and Asuna just sighed as she passed by him. Ame followed, looking back at him in curiosity.

"Strange. I was thinking he wanted to go," she murmured thoughtfully.

Asuna glanced back to see him still standing even as they walked further and further away. She sighed in resignation, then shouted, "Come on!"

It seemed to be enough to shake him out of whatever fit he'd fallen into and Tramp nodded, then jogged to catch up with them. Ame lifted her fist high in the air with a cry.

"To the World Tree!"

Her pace accelerated and she went on ahead, leaving them several meters behind. Asuna and Tramp's eyes met, the looks on both their faces that of utter bewilderment.

"Please tell me she's not going to stay that way until the end. It's embarrassing," Tramp pleaded.

Asuna could have replied with something akin to that, having for a moment shared his opinion, but she preferred to smile and say, "Now you see how I've felt with you around."

"Naw, you're just being mean now."

Asuna chuckled. Without answering back, she grabbed her flight controller and launched high up in the air.

* * *

**Author's Note**: Saturday night + fast typing FTW!


	4. Chapter IV

_Did you think that I would surrender easily?_  
_Just like that, you were getting rid of me_  
_Is that the way you saw it all go down?_  
_I don't think, I don't think so_  
_There's not a word you can say I haven't heard before_  
_So give it up, give it up unless you want a little more_  
_You think you're pretty tough, so let's throw down_  
_It's alright, I'm alright_

**_—Simple Plan - The Last One Standing_**

**Link to Reality**

Chapter IV

_November 10__th_

Roaring of the wind in his ears was overbearing. There was nothing ahead of him but a clear blue sky. It was ironic, as in the real world it was sometime around eleven PM yet in this world nothing indicated that the night was anywhere close to arriving. He was starting to get a strange sensation from his finger as though it was going to start hurting for how hard he pressed the acceleration button yet his avatar didn't seem to be moving any faster.

Naturally, feeling pain in VRMMO games was impossible and Kirito realized that while yes, he probably was pressing too hard, there was hardly anything he could complain about. The excitement flashing through him while he was flying was addictive and something inside of him wanted to go higher and faster, but he'd taken to flying not too high in order to be able to land quickly once his wings stopped shining.

The piece of map that was supposed to lead him to the World Tree was crude and hardly of any use, but it was also unnecessary as even Kirito who was utterly unfamiliar with this strange world could make out the shape of the giant tree in the distance.

Occasionally, he wished it was closer. That way he'd be able to meet Asuna sooner and… what then? He hadn't thought that far. The problem they were both facing was of the same nature and even together, would they be able to find out why? Kirito didn't know, but he wasn't going to give up without giving it a try.

It had been an incredible relief when Asuna contacted him two days ago. By that point he was thinking of going to Arun himself, assured he'd be able to get some answers there, but had unwittingly gone in wrong direction and ended up somewhere in the Leprechaun territory. That had turned out to be a blessing in disguise as that particular race had many players focused on blacksmithing and while it took some precious time for him to find the best he could get, the sword now resting in the sheathe on his back was anything he could have wished for.

Asuna hadn't been too happy about it, once he'd admitted it to her that it might take him longer than intended. She hadn't tried to complain much, though, reasoning that at the rate she herself was going, it was going to take her several days. He'd been a bit surprised when he'd learned that she'd partied with a pair of Undines along the way (she'd insisted that she'd only befriended them) and that it was the reason why the travelling was going slow. Well that, and the fact one of her friends appeared to have other friends scattered everywhere.

Kirito was also relieved to know that Yui's heart was still safely stored in their inventory and had almost thought about using it, then decided against it. Whatever this game might be on the surface, there was still far too much relating it to SAO for him to feel comfortable with having Yui brought there. At least she was protected inside the storage of his NerveGear even in the unlikely circumstance of her heart as an in-game object getting erased. He'd also made sure for Asuna to know it, too, but she'd revealed she shared his opinion on the matter.

He felt his flight slowing down, his wings starting to lose their glow. Another ten seconds at most and he would have to land. Looking over the woods below him, he tried to find a suitable landing place, but at the moment there was nothing especially inviting.

Realizing he didn't have much time to choose, Kirito headed towards the first clearing he noticed and landed, for the first time without falling or hitting into something. Smiling contently to himself, he figured the time he spent practicing – namely twenty minutes – was not wasted.

"Well, would you look at that… I was just getting bored, too."

Kirito spun immediately, alarmed by the voice coming from somewhere behind him.

Underneath one of the bigger trees, just at the edge of the clearing, five players of several races seemed to be resting. Well, resting was a bit too strong word. Only the Cait Sith player, recognizable because of a pair of bright brown ears sticking out of his hair of the same color seemed to be doing anything like it and he was actually leaning against the giant tree with his legs crossed, eating something and not even pretending to be interested in Kirito's presence.

Kirito felt strangely amused at the sight of a waggling orange-brown tail that he hadn't noticed at first.

The only two girls of the party, an Imp girl with long purple hair tied into a single braid falling down her back and a Leprechaun one with shoulder-length dark hair matching the color of her outfit, seemed to be playing Red Hands. From the dark look on her face, the Imp girl seemed to be losing.

On the other hand, the remaining two members were guys, a Leprechaun a little bit taller than Kirito and the other had to be a Gnome, his height somewhere close to Agil's. They were both standing with their weapons drawn as though preparing for a stand-off against each other, however, rather than looking at each other, they were both turned to Kirito and it was obvious that any attempt at running away would be met with failure even if the other three hadn't spared him a glance.

"I'd normally say something like, leave all your money and equipment and you can go, but right now I'm pretty bored," the Leprechaun said, dropping out of his fighting stance and twirling the dagger in his fingers.

A small smirk appeared on Kirito's face despite the unspoken threat and the fact he was vastly outnumbered and in a hurry. He wasn't going to be able to fly for another twenty minutes so he had time to spare.

"Is that supposed to be a challenge?"

The Leprechaun shrugged, a pair of green eyes looking at Kirito in amusement.

"Do you know what it means, being this far from a safe zone?"

When Kirito didn't respond, he continued.

"It means you give us all your money and items and go on your merry way. Well, maybe not, because I'm really bored now. Hey, guys, Ichigo, Todoh? Are you in the mood for a fight?"

"No!"

The sharp answer came from now-scowling Imp girl as it appeared the other girl managed to slap her again and she was grinning in triumph.

The Leprechaun boy looked befuddled at the response, taking his eyes off Kirito and turning to protest. "Wha? But Ichigo—!"

"Not interested!" the girl repeated, harsher and far more irritated this time.

"Give it a rest, Gill, she's just a sore loser," the other girl laughed.

In amazement from being brushed off that way, the Leprechaun, Gill, turned to the Gnome as though looking for approval. "And you, Todoh? Please, please, please!"

The pleading ruined the image of a hardcore player that the boy was trying to maintain, making him sound as young as he was – and that had to be somewhere about fifteen or sixteen.

Kirito had thought about running away at first, but the Gnome's—Todoh's—eyes never left him for a moment, even when addressed by his party member. Instead, he remained standing, his body on alert and ready to draw the sword on his back on a moment's notice.

Todoh smirked as Kirito shifted his stance a little, tilting his head and saying, "Sure, why not? The kid looks like he's got some skill. Should be amusing while we wait for our wings to recharge."

"Amber? Sang?" Gill asked hopefully.

"No way, I'm eating!" the Cait Sith protested immediately.

"Amber?"

The Leprechaun girl sighed, stretching her hands and back. She yawned, then pushed herself up to stand then started doing some basic exercises with an exasperated look on her face. Kirito was surprised to see she was shorter than him, having sounded as much older.

"Hey, Amber—" Ichigo tried protesting, but the other girl interrupted her.

"We can continue later. It's not like I can leave the two of them to their own devices," she said.

Ichigo scowled and crossed her arms at her chest, then moved to lean against the tree with a sword, sitting right beside the Cait Sith. "Fine, then. Battle-maniacs."

For some reason, the Cait Sith started laughing hard enough that he nearly started choking.

"You won't participate?" Amber asked in curiosity.

"No! You guys go ahead, but you can forget about me reviving you if you get your asses handed to you like yesterday."

"Meanie," Amber pouted, then her eyes settled on Kirito. He blinked, not expecting them to be red.

She was looking at him as though trying to make an assessment of his skill, though, that was hardly enough to throw off his focus and by the time she came to stand between Gill and Todoh while facing him, Kirito had his hand gripping the hilt of his new weapon, drawing it and falling into the stance he was the most comfortable with.

The double-edged one-handed sword was nearly as long as Kirito was tall, but it was one of the few swords that he managed to find that didn't feel too light in his hand. It was player made and of strange design, the blade itself of while color, but down its length stretched a several centimeter thick black line, seemingly making it look wider and thicker than it was.

Amber's eyes widened.

"Was that player made?" she asked with a look of surprise.

Kirito nodded. "What of it?"

"It was Tonno, wasn't it?" Then, without waiting for a response—which would have been affirmative—she shook her head and said to the Imp girl with a mocking smile, "That jerk. We'll have to talk to him about this, selling his best swords like that… Are you sure you don't want to participate, Ichigo?"

"You heard me!" the girl replied in heat.

"Okay, okay, I heard you."

"What are we waiting for?!"

Gill kicked off the ground with speed Kirito hadn't been expecting from the boy. For all the boasting and threatening, he'd thought the boy would be one of the weakest one in the guild, but as Kirito parried the dagger a second before it reached his face, he realized he might have been assuming too much.

He swung the blade outward, forcing Gill to jump backwards in order not to be cut only to feel an attack coming from behind a mere moment before he spun and blocked a heavy attack from the Gnome that made his arm tremble.

_When did he—?_

Kirito wasn't given the time to think much. Gill was back and he had to quickly counter Todoh to stop the dagger from reaching him. He succeeded, but the dagger still managed to graze his cheek, taking several points from his HP bar.

Jumping backwards to put some distance between them, Kirito tried to analyze their movements that seemed to be completely in sync. They were running so close to each other that he was half-expecting for one of them to hinder the other, but it looked like they were both far too used to that kind of attack as Gill was the first to speed up, attacking with his dagger in an upward slash which Kirito avoided just in time, but leaving him vulnerable to Todoh's one-handed sword coming from above. Kirito parried, but the force of the attack sent him sliding a few meters back.

When he looked up just as he regained his feeling of balance, he got to see Gill coming with a battle cry and another attack. But while Gill was coming, Kirito caught a glimpse of Amber at least ten meters behind him, not making a single move to join the fight.

_What is she—?_

He'd already been forced to give multiple openings which she could have exploited no matter how weak or slow she was, but she hadn't tried to do anything. Rather, she was just observing, the look on her face serious in contrast to the grin on Gill's and excitement on Todoh's face. Another strange thing he noticed about all of them was that the only person wearing any sort of armor was Amber – and those were only hand guards.

Kirito didn't have too much time on his hands to focus on Amber, however, and instead of trying to parry Gill's attack, he leapt forward using his short body to his advantage and staying low, letting Gill's dagger fly over his head while his sword embedded in the Leprechaun's side, depleting a significant portion of his HP.

"Dammit!" Gill cried out, his momentum taking him too far for him to be able to reach Kirito with another swing.

Kirito used the short time he bought to attack Todoh with a horizontal swing from left to right, which the Gnome parried with a frown that indicated it had been a hard attack. Without pausing for a moment, Kirito followed with another slash from right to left, managing to extend his reach and graze Todoh's hip. Then he proceeded, spinning in full circle and releasing another slash from right to left, a deep red trail remaining on Todoh's lower back. That complete, Kirito's final slash of SAO sword skill named «Horizontal Square» left a deep red mark on Todoh's body and sent his HP deep in the red.

"Amber!"

Kirito heard Gill scream a moment before a dagger got embedded deep between his shoulder blades. Kirito felt only a tingling sensation, but his HP was dropping fast. He spun around, lashing out with his sword on instinct, cutting Gill's avatar nearly in half. He took the dagger out of his back as his HP dropped below thirty percent and was fully expecting to see Gill's form disappear what with the damage now and the one he'd dealt less than a minute ago.

On the contrary, Gill was just standing there, his remaining HP roughly the same as Kirito's.

That was when he realized exactly what Amber's role in this battle was.

His head snapped in her direction, but she'd hardly moved from her previous position. Her hands, however, were directed towards Todoh and she was chanting something under her breath, quietly enough so he wouldn't have noticed it without paying specific attention to her.

A kick to the side was what reminded him that in a moment that he'd completely forgotten about Gill. His dagger might still be in Kirito's hand, but the Leprechaun was hardly incapable of fighting without it.

Kirito's HP dropped another several points, making him wonder if there were martial arts skills in ALO.

With a scream, he swung his sword at Gill and the boy's eyes widened as he realized there was nowhere he could get away from the diagonal slash. His HP bar empty, rather than dissolving into rainbow colored polygons, his body burned in grey flames, leaving a single tiny flame floating behind.

Kirito didn't know what that meant, but if he wanted to win this, he first needed to take down Amber, then Todoh.

With every intention of following through on his thoughts, Kirito launched ahead and saw the girl's eyes widen at the sword coming straight at her. It never reached her, though, because Todoh jumped in between them and rather than trying to block Kirito's attack, he swung his sword with enough force to deter the route of Kirito's and ruin his momentum.

"So you're one of those assholes who don't mind attacking a girl, eh?" he asked, then grabbed Kirito's wrist and embedded his knee deep in stomach before pushing him away.

Kirito's back collided against the tree several meters away and the only way he'd kept himself from falling was by stabbing his sword in the ground and using it as support.

Taking several moments to steady his breathing, Kirito replied, "You wouldn't, either, if half the girls you know have tried killing you at some point."

Todoh snorted. "You're probably right about that." He gestured with his thumb at Kirito's right and Kirito turned just in time to see a dagger aiming for his head. He ducked under it and pulled his sword out of the ground, but Gill jumped back before it could catch him.

"Thanks, Amber!" he shouted.

"Just keep covering me!" she yelled back.

Kirito tried to assess his situation, but anyway he tried to look at it, it was bad. His HP was below ten percent and all it would take was one hit for him to lose and reappear back in Spriggan hometown. His opponents on the other hand were two in number, highly skilled and had an expert healer as a support. In fact, the way they functioned reminded Kirito of Klein's guild, «Fuurinkazan», legendary and remembered because they were the only clearing guild in the entire Aincrad that had never lost a single member.

Still, that didn't mean he was going to give in. It might be a battle for them to pass time, but for Kirito this meant much more. Losing meant that his trip to Arun was going to take twice as long and the prospect of that did not seem very inviting.

There were two ways he could go about this if he wanted to win. One of them was to yield and give them what they wanted and the other… the other was going to depend on luck much more so than anything he'd done during this fight.

Todoh and Gill were standing on the exact same distance from him, apparently waiting to see what move he'd make. Amber, on the other hand, was standing with her back to a tree and Todoh as her direct shield from whatever Kirito might try. It was a simple setup that wouldn't work if Gill wasn't the one with high Agility and Todoh the one with high Strength skill. Amber might be a practiced healer despite her race, but it wasn't hard to imagine how much of her MP would have to go on resurrecting Gill. She could do it once more, maybe twice at most, but the look in her eyes was as confident as ever.

They all thought this battle was already as good as won, but if Kirito had learned anything during his time in SAO, it was that nothing was over until the HP bar hit zero. And even then, it was just a matter of opinion.

Tightening the grip on his blade, he started what could be termed his 'last stand' with a scream.

Gill was the player that had to go down first. His speed was equal, perhaps even better than Kirito's and if he wasn't out of the battle, then bypassing Todoh to reach Amber would be practically impossible so rather than the only speed, Kirito chose this attack to be both as strong and as fast as he could possibly make it.

Gill tried to move out of the way and out of the corner of his eye, Kirito noticed Todoh heading towards him to help, but that was exactly what he'd been waiting for.

His diagonal slash – the first attack of the two consecutive-hit sword skill from SAO, «Vertical Arc» - missed Gill entirely, but the position Todoh moved into made it impossible for Gill to move out of the way of the second hit. A deep crimson line remained as Kirito's sword hit exactly the way he'd intended to.

With another scream, he forced his body to abruptly change direction, stabbing his sword deep in Todoh's side as Todoh's weapon missed Kirito's shoulder by a mere millimeter.

Amber was conflicted on what action she could take as she held her hands outward, Kirito could see it clearly in her face. If she chose to heal Gill, he would attack quickly and finish off Todoh. If she chose to heal Todoh, Kirito would lash out and kill Gill instead. She was aware of that if the anger and helplessness evident on her face were anything to go by.

What she did instead was something Kirito couldn't have predicted.

Instead of aiming at Gill or Todoh, her hands were directed at him while she uttered several words and a bright red ball of fire shot in his direction. Kirito inhaled sharply, thinking it had been stupid of him to think she was only capable of using healing magic, then used Todoh's bent knee as a jumping board to get out of the way of her attack.

A moment later, while he was in the air, Gill came with his dagger and unlike Kirito he had an advantage of being able to use his wings.

Or rather, a disadvantage, in that particular moment.

Kirito wasn't sure what was going to happen once he did that, but his mid-air swing succeeded in slicing one of his four mechanical wings and he tumbled down. His HP, already in the red red, dropped down even further at both the damage he'd taken from Kirito's slash and the consecutive fall. There were only a few points left and Kirito refused to miss this opportunity.

Just as his feet touched the ground, he jumped again, only this time rather than the height, he went for the distance, reversing the grip on his sword so he'd hold it like one would grip a knife in a preparation to stab something. As he got in the range, he reversed the grip once again then swung his sword upwards, Gill's right hand falling off and being swallowed in flames. The rest of his body followed a moment later.

"You'll pay for that!" Todoh exclaimed, but the speed of his attack was nothing special. Amber had obviously restored his HP, but that was fine.

For once, Kirito didn't try to parry Todoh's attack. He'd just stepped out of the way, then bypassed him, heading straight for the Leprechaun girl.

For her part, Amber didn't seem to be panicked in the slightest. Her move consisted of drawing a dagger on her own as her means of defense, but she was slower than Todoh. By the time she was prepared to do anything with it, Kirito's sword was deep in her chest.

"Damn it," she said in English, her accent strangely accurate.

"Sorry about that," Kirito replied honestly as her HP bar dropped into the red zone and continued decreasing.

"Oh well, once you hit, once you miss…" she replied while appearing rather calm. Then her body got swallowed up by the grey flames, only a tiny one remaining to float in the air.

Kirito turned facing Todoh.

The Gnome's eyes were narrowed and his sword was held out, but once he spoke, he sounded more perplexed than upset.

"Oi, Ichigo, you gonna join now?"

"Hell no!" came the annoyed reply. "You got yourselves into this mess, now you get yourselves out!"

Todoh shrugged. "I should've expected that." Then he charged at Kirito.

This time Kirito did take his attack head on, his HP dropping below eight percent for taking such a risk. Their avatar strength was not as evenly matched as he'd been expecting, but Todoh's sword had an advantage of being bulkier and longer than Kirito's, which evened them up quite enough.

The sparks flew from where their swords met, Kirito's from up and Todoh's from below, and it was evident Todoh wasn't very pleased with this turn of events.

He pushed forward with all his strength, but rather than resist, Kirito let him. He was sent flying up from the force, but he was prepared for that. Kirito's feet hit against the trunk of one of the sturdier looking trees and he kicked off of it, using it to boast the speed of his attack.

Todoh wasn't expecting that. His hasty attempt in parrying was another thing Kirito had been counting on and once their blades met, the battle would be almost as good as over.

_Don't move, don't move,_ Kirito silently prayed during the last second before their blades crash. A millimeter left or right, up or down was all it would take for all his efforts to go to waste. As strong and powered-up a sword could be, there was always a single part that, if hit with a correct amount of strength, would have to give. Unlike most of the other swords, Kirito managed to make out two of such parts on Todoh's double-edged sword, each on the other side of the blade. The downside to that was that the hit itself would have to be precise down to the last millimeter for the blade to be destroyed.

It was.

Todoh's sword snapped in half and Kirito's momentum had him nearly crashing into the ground, but that was fine. The look in Todoh's eyes a second before the impact told Kirito enough to know that the battle would truly be over once one of them lost their HP entirely.

Reasoning that this was a game only and that this was no longer the death game of SAO, he managed to swallow up his guilt as he performed two fast slashes over his back that took most of Todoh's HP. Kirito realized Amber never got a chance at restoring it completely before he'd taken her out.

"Sorry about this," he said quietly, then stood in front of Todoh with a solemn look on his face. Then he finished it with a fast, shallow slash and watched Todoh's avatar getting swallowed in a brown flame.

Kirito took a shaky breath as he looked at the tiny bit of his HP that remained, feeling relieved that it was finally over, but he also felt as though those last three attacks had been overkill. He knew that Todoh would have probably chosen another weapon from his inventory a moment or so later and he could have given him a chance to do that. His chances of victory would be significantly reduced, but at least… at least there wouldn't be any guilt bottling up inside of him as there was now.

_For Asuna, though,_ he reminded himself. He can't leave her waiting, not any longer than absolutely necessary.

He looked up in the sky, his mind for a moment solely focused on the girl who was somewhere in the other part of this world, on her own way to their destination.

Then he felt something at the back of his neck and turned abruptly.

A tip of a one-edged sword was held several centimeters from his throat. Calling it a sword might be exaggerating, though, as the thing looked more like an oversized kitchen knife without a guard and only a thin piece of white bandage wrapped around the hilt. The blade itself was of the similar design like Kirito's, the edge being colored white while the rest of the weapon was black. The one holding it, that was a big surprise, though.

The Imp girl, Ichigo, was smirking savagely while shaking her head from left to right in slow motion.

"Try not to move around too much. One tiny cut would be enough to kill you at this point."

Kirito wanted to scream at himself for being so stupid as to think the last two remaining guild members would be willing to take the defeat of their friends quietly, but any sort of a confrontation now would just be asking for trouble. Ichigo was right. She didn't even have to try. A small twist of her wrist would be enough to take away the last bits of his HP.

"Good, I see that you understand me. So what should we do about him, Sang? Should we just finish him off or wait for one of the others to get back and do it instead?"

The Cait Sith yawned from his old position, not even looking in their direction.

"Weren't you complaining about somebody needing to beat them up just ten minutes ago?" he replied lazily.

"That's because Gill didn't want to shut up and Amber wanted Todoh to give her a piggyback ride to the top of the World Tree," Ichigo said with a groan.

"That was just a joke, she wasn't seriously asking that," Sang replied.

"Doesn't make her sound any less insane!"

"Fine, be that way. I still vote for letting him join."

Kirito blinked at that, an all too familiar feeling of nervousness bubbling up inside of him and making his way up, leaving him feel strangely deprived of energy and reason. There was no way he could have heard that well. No way.

Still, a part of him didn't seem to feel comfortable just letting it pass and, in a low, nearly inaudible voice, he asked, "J-join you? You want… me to join you?"

* * *

**Author's Note**: Wow, looks like I'm on a writing frenzy these days and I haven't even been home for most of the day. Anyway, don't get your hopes too high as the next chapter probably won't be coming out this quickly. Hell, I should be sleeping in bed right now seeing as there's less than five hours before my classes should begin, but this chapter just got finished and I was too lazy to wait until tomorrow afternoon to update. That's when I'll be proofreading this thing... yeah.


	5. Chapter V

"_Loyalty cannot be blueprinted. It cannot be produced on an assembly line. In fact, it cannot be manufactured at all, for its origin is the human heart - the center of self-respect and human dignity. It is a force which leaps into being only when conditions are exactly right for it - and it is a force very sensitive to betrayal."_

― _**Maurice Franks**_

**Link to Reality**

Chapter V

_November 10__th_

Heavy sounds of clashing weapons echoed in the vast forest. Asuna swung her rapier twice in quick succession, bypassing her opponent's defense and jumping away as it disintegrated a moment later. Making an attention-grabbing twist with her rapier, she sheathed it, then looked at her status window.

23:45, the real world clock said.

She turned her head, looking over to where Tramp and Ame were still fighting and called out to them, "Do you need a helping hand?"

Having already finished with the mob she had taken on herself to defeat, there wasn't much else she could do until the two of them were finished.

Ame was doing well, having only a single monster more to defeat, but Tramp seemed to be stuck in a two-versus-one battle.

"No!" he shouted in irritation a second before one of the humanoid lizards managed to hit his chest armor, which was already covered in several red lines indicating damage. This was apparently too much for the breast plate to take as it disintegrated and Tramp huffed in annoyance.

He swung his sword then, cutting off the lizard's arm then proceeding to slash at it with vigor. Its HP was gone within moments and the monster disappeared. He swung towards the last one and only barely caught it, but the lizard used Tramp's lack of protection to cut his open chest. It was shallow and took only several of his HP.

"I'm starting to hate this," Tramp grumbled, then proceeded to attack.

"I could help you if you'd like!" Asuna shouted while he was getting engaged in a duel with the lizard-man.

Ame joined Asuna less than a minute later, returning the lance she'd used back in her inventory.

"What? Losing your HP to the weakest mobs we've encountered yet?" she shouted at Tramp flippantly. Without waiting for his response – which would have been something rude anyway – she said, "Why do you keep using so low quality armor anyway? I swear, it looks like it's weaker than the starting gear."

"It was cheap!" Tramp protested as he finally managed to cut the final monster and opened his status window. A second later, a piece of light grey armor appeared on his chest, exactly the same like the one he'd just lost. "It's not like I wanted it in the first place. The first time I got killed I didn't have it at all and that had been good, but then I got killed a few more times and I figured I could at least get some cheapest pieces. It takes most of the damage intended for me even if it gets destroyed. The first time I got any damage at the same time as my armor got destroyed was fighting Asuna and _that_ was brilliant on her part. I didn't even know you could do that."

Ame rolled her eyes while Asuna waved her hands to indicate he was exaggerating.

"You sound like a masochist," Ame mumbled. "I guess it's a good thing our avatars can't feel any pain. You'd probably be even crazier than you're already if that were the case."

"Not true! I'll have you know—"

Ame waved her hand as though she didn't care, then turned to Asuna. "Tramp's an idiot, but he's got one thing right. You're really great with that rapier. Are you a fencer in RL?"

Asuna, who had by then just been absent-mindedly listening to the two of them bickering, blinked at being addressed.

During SAO, the questions such as the one that Ame just asked were always considered inappropriate and there weren't many people willing to mention it aloud. Before long, it became almost like a taboo and Asuna was still having trouble getting used to the complete freedom of asking questions that Tramp and Ame seemed to relish in.

She fumbled for appropriate enough answer and ended up smiling awkwardly and saying something that wasn't technically a lie.

"No—nothing like that. I just have experience from some other games I've played, that's all."

"Wha? Then were you messing with me when you said you were new?" Tramp protested instantly and Asuna raised her hands in defense.

"N-no! ALO is just different! The rules and abilities and all… it's not something I'm familiar with. There're still many things I don't know how to handle. Voluntary flight, for one thing."

Tramp nodded with a comically thoughtful look on his face. "Oh, yeah. I've noticed you've been holding onto that silly joystick. Anyway, it's pretty hard. You need to get the AmuSphere to redirect these nerve impulses into the wings, then focus really really hard to get them under control. The speed is amazing, though, but it's really weird at first. Here, I'll show you."

Tramp's wings materialized and he kicked off in the air, circling above the girls' heads for a few times.

"It gets pretty easy once you get used to it," he added, then flew higher.

Asuna followed him, eager to give it a try although she hadn't understood anything he'd told her. She turned to Ame, who had an exasperated look on her face and whom she had also seen flying without a controller. The Undine girl sighed.

"It's much easier than that," she explained, "He's right about one thing, but it's much easier than he made it sound. Just try closing your eyes and think of the wings as a part of you rather than an in-game addition. That's pretty much all I can say to help you, so go ahead and try it out. I'm pretty good myself so I'll be able to help out if it's hard at first."

Asuna nodded then closed her eyes and focused, picturing the four shining, see-though wings as a part of herself, rather than just her avatar.

It was hard, though. She wasn't sure how she was supposed to know if she'd done it right and—just then she felt as though something got attached to her back. She opened her eyes in surprise and looked over her shoulder to see the wings present, as though she'd only just summoned them even though that wasn't what she'd been thinking about.

"Ooh, you're pretty good!" Ame grinned. "Now instead of using the controller, try to get the wings to move. It won't be easy at first and it'll take some time to get a hang of it, but go ahead."

"Right."

This time Asuna had a vague idea of what she was supposed to be doing. Perhaps it was because she was confident that it wasn't impossible or because she just felt she'd be able to do it, but she knew how to get it right.

It was strange. Not difficult, not really, but it demanded focus and the higher she flew, the more chaotic her thoughts became. She tried changing direction a few times, but she nearly ended up crashing with the trees.

"Not bad!" Tramp grinned as she flew past him.

"I'm out of control! How do I stop?" Asuna screamed.

"You have to calm down!" Ame shouted back with a laugh. "It's fine even if you hit something, I promise I'll heal you!"

"Easy for you to say that!" Asuna yelled.

"Oh fine, let's just go then," Ame said then took off. She grabbed Asuna's hand, helping her to straighten out and then yelled at Tramp. "Come on!"

"Coming, coming!"

They flew towards the World Tree, still far off in the distance while Ame seemed to be busy checking her status window and typing something quickly.

"Right, then," she said. "I'll have to log out soon, but there aren't any safe areas close to us. The closest we'll get is Everglade, but it will take us a few hours to get there in the least, so I don't think that'll work."

"Then what? We log out in the woods?" Asuna asked.

"It's risky," Tramp objected. "Your avatar remains behind for another fifteen minutes and you can get attacked."

"It's fine," Asuna replied. "The two of you can log out first. I'll go a bit later. I was intending on practicing voluntary flight anyway."

"But—"

Tramp's objection was swallowed up by Ame's enthusiastic agreement.

"Yosh! That works! I have a Sylph friend who'll be in Everglade tomorrow afternoon so we can also meet up with him and his party members before moving on to the Rainbow Valley, what do you say?"

Asuna resisted the urge to groan at that, thinking about just how much that will delay them again. Once Ame started talking to people, there was no getting her to stop until she'd said all she wanted.

"How many friends do you have?" Tramp asked in disbelief.

"Lots and lots more than you, that's for sure."

"Hey—"

"But this one is the one I know from RL," Ame continued as if she didn't hear him say a word. "I haven't seen him since I've moved away, but it'll be fun. I can't wait to see his avatar. He's a bit of a wimp in RL, so I'm expecting some big and muscled avatar as a manifestation of cosmic irony. He has it going for him, if you get what I mean."

Tramp gave Asuna a long, pleading look, though as much Asuna wanted to agree with him, it was much, much funnier when she took Ame's side. Tramp never really got mad so it was fun to tease him and he should be getting used to it, anyway, with how often she'd been doing that.

As Asuna agreed to Ame's idea, all Tramp did was roll his eyes and shake his head exactly as if he were expecting it already.

"Anyway, about that magic system," Asuna muttered while looking ahead towards their faraway objective. "How does it work?"

"It's pretty simple," Ame replied. "Every race has an affinity to an element – and in our case that's water. Undines can breathe and fight underwater with no problem and mastering healing magic is really simple. I'm still only a bit away from learning Resurrection Magic, too. That's not to say you can't use the other elements, they're just a bit harder to master. I can start teaching you the basic spells if you'd like."

"I'd like that," Asuna said with an honest smile. "Oh, and are there any ways to teleport from one place to another? Like crystals or something?"

"No… You can get teleported only if you die and nobody resurrects you before your Remain Light goes out and that's just back to the hometown. Other than that, no I don't think so," Ame replied.

Asuna nodded thoughtfully.

Tramp groaned. "I swear, at times you're like a professional, but at times you're worse than a complete newbie, Asuna…"

Asuna chuckled, but she learned in surprise that she wasn't in the least bothered by his remark, at least not the way she'd been back during her first days in SAO if somebody even tried insinuating she was a beginner. Unlike back then, now she at least had some kind of experience to back her up rather than just her going in blind.

She looked down, observing the forest they were flying over, not at all afraid she would lose control. In this short time she'd spent in ALO, she learned that if somebody could be trusted, it was Ame. There was a reason she had so many friends and that was not just because of her outgoing nature, but also complete honesty.

Then she looked ahead when she thought she'd seen something flash and her eyes widened. There was a lot of noise coming from up ahead of them, the turmoil that could only be caused by a player-versus-player guild conflict. Occasional spell would end up flying high in the air and exploding along with clear sound of weapons clashing coming from under the thick leaves. Asuna unconsciously slowed down and flew lower, dragging Ame along when another spell passed a little less than twenty meters ahead of them.

By then, Asuna wasn't the only one who noticed.

"Let's change course," Tramp said and stopped in mid-air, causing Ame and Asuna to halt as well.

"But it'll take lots of our free time," Ame moaned.

"Do you want to get caught up in that?" Tramp asked exasperatedly. "I say it's better we waste a bit of time than lose to a PK guild and have to start all over again. And let's not even mention the Death Penalty."

"We'll just fly over them! They probably won't even notice, being as caught up in it as they are! If they were any good, they would have seen us by now," Ame argued. She shook her head and, seeing Tramp was going to argue again, she turned to Asuna. "What do you think, Asuna?"

The Undine bit her lip while her eyes focused solely on the battle ahead. She could make out several Remain Lights of blue color, indicating they belonged to Undine players and several green, purple and red ones, meaning Sylphs, Imps and Salamanders were also present and the battle was still in full swing.

"We… we should stop them," she whispered, the thought of so many players killing each other upsetting something deep inside of her. "I really think we should go down there."

"It's three of us against a dozen of them!" Tramp said urgently.

"Yeah, are you insane? Aren't you the one in the rush to reach the World Tree? Getting involved would be counter productive!" Ame argued.

"I know," Asuna moaned. "I know that, just… I can't… it's hard. So many players killing each other…"

"That's the point," Tramp groaned. "Death Penalty here, a bit of hurt pride here. Nothing's going to happen to them. This ain't the Death Game."

Asuna was about to agree when her mind registered the exact words he said. She her head slowly, eyes landing on Tramp who didn't seem to have thought about what he'd said. Asuna felt cold all over. "W-what?"

"What do you mean, what?"

"T-the death game… what did you mean?" Asuna asked, her mind drifting back to the floating castle. She'd been wondering about that, what happened to all the other players, whether they were still alive or not.

"Oh, that. Didn't you hear about the SAO?" he said with a blank, utterly oblivious look on his face.

"S-sure," Asuna replied, realizing right away Tramp wouldn't be able to give her any answers she was hoping for. He didn't know anything. The subject came to him too easily, it was likely he didn't even have any knowledge about it until just recently.

What he said then convinced her the accuracy of her impression.

"You don't hang on forums much, do you? Everyone's been calling it the Death Game for a while already."

"O-oh… right."

"Come on, then. We're changing course."

Ame nodded solemnly, honestly surprising Asuna as she'd been expecting some kind of objection from the younger girl, but the two of her friends flew ahead, Asuna remaining to drift behind them for a few moments.

She looked towards the conflict in the distance, fighting the urge to go there and make it stop.

She hadn't felt that way during her duel with Tramp, perhaps because she had personally seen him log out right in front of her, but she couldn't help but think that some of those players might have been others from SAO, just like her. What would happen to them if they died in-game? Would they die in real world as well, just like during SAO? Were any of those players down there the people she knew?

"Stop thinking about it," she admonished to herself quietly, then turned away and followed Tramp and Ame who were giving her curious looks.

_It's just Kirito-kun and I. I know that. I tried sending IMs to the others, but it's just the two of us. Please let it be that way._

"Are you all right?" Ame asked in strangely serene voice.

Asuna nodded. "It's fine. Let's go. We don't have much time before the wings stop glowing. We should get away from here."

Ame nodded in agreement and smiled, then turned ahead and cheerfully shouted, "To the World Tree!"

* * *

_November 10__th_

_"Fine, be that way. I still vote for letting him join."_

The words Sang had spoken left Kirito feeling nervous in a familiar way, one he hadn't felt for quite a while. He was certain that if this were the real world, he would already be sweating bullets.

The dark look on Ichigo's face as she turned to Sang and the fact that the tip of her sword that had been a millimeter from touching Kirito's neck was pressed closer made her opinion on the matter obvious, but despite it Kirito just couldn't keep the words inside.

"J-join you? You want… me to join you?"

Much to his surprise, the one to respond was Ichigo and she seemed hell-bent on biting his head off.

"What are you trying to do, making it sound as it's the worst damn thing that could happen to you? I should just get done with this and cut you, so maybe you'd learn to respect that you'd just been out gambitted by _the_ best guild in ALO!" She then turned back to Sang and bit out, "And no, I don't want him in my guild!"

Kirito's relief on hearing those words was short-lived, as Sang didn't seem to fret from Ichigo in the slightest. Rather, the smile on his face give Kirito the impression that the boy was enjoying riling her up and was hoping for an explosive reaction like that.

"Aw, come on. You haven't picked out anyone ever since Todoh joined and that was six months ago! We can't stay the strongest guild in the game if we don't let some fresh blood join," he said.

"No and that's it. Not this guy. I don't like him! Just look at his face! And he won on luck more than anything—"

"He was planning for it," Sang corrected her in a patronizing voice. Ichigo stopped talking, her mouth hanging open, allowing Sang to continue with a playful smirk in Kirito's direction. "I didn't see it at first, but that was a pretty risky plan you had going there. Todoh totally fell for it, the brute. Did you know he's our best strategist? He should've figured it out way before I did."

Kirito could only blink, not daring to open his mouth in case Ichigo decided to just stab the sword in his neck after hearing this. It seemed to be taking her a lot of effort not to do it.

"Go ahead, tell him everything," she grumbled, but her words were said in a way that suggested that she was actually considering that idea, despite the deep frown on her face. Kirito wasn't sure if that was good or bad, though.

"Come on, Ichigo… Please, please, please!"

"… I don't know. He's… he doesn't even know how to fly without a controller!"

"Neither did Amber when you two founded the guild. You've complained about it for months," Sang reasoned. "Stop resisting already. I know you don't like outsiders, but we have our reputation to worry about. If the others figured we were completely closed off rather than on-invite only, they'd start gathering and form their own guilds instead of keep begging you to join. And the Salamanders are doing a pretty good job at gathering their strongest players, ever since that Mortimer became their leader. They're a whole race, too. Do you _want_ to let them beat us? We're supposed to be the legends!"

"Ugh, fine. I'm going to hate myself for this later, I just know it." Ichigo grumbled then opened her status window.

Kirito could only blink at the window inviting him to join the guild popped up before him.

He looked Ichigo in the eyes and saw how impatient she was. He lost all the courage he'd gathered to object that deal.

"Don't I get a say in this?" he asked miserably.

"Sure you do. But keep in mind that you'll die If you say no," Ichigo shrugged.

"What happened to freedom of choice, anyway?" Kirito mumbled.

"It got chained at the top of a tower and is being guarded by a big scary dragon. Now, are you gonna accept that or should I kill you?"

Kirito's finger lingered a few centimeters away from the «Accept» button.

He wasn't given a choice at all. Disagreeing would obviously be bad for him, but wouldn't agreeing make it an obligation to stick around them rather than continue where he'd headed? Taking a deep breath, he said what was on his mind.

"I'll join you, okay… but there is something I have to do as soon as possible and I would like it if I could finish that first."

"That's no problem. We'd back you up anyway," Sang replied cheerfully.

Kirito appreciated that, but everything he'd learned until now pointed at Ichigo as the leader of this guild and it was her agreement he needed if he was going to agree to anything.

She was giving him a long, assessing look, then said in a clear voice that allowed no argument, "Join first, then we discuss that."

Normally, Kirito would object, but there was something in her voice that hinted him that she really did mean it and that he had very high chances of striking a fair deal with her.

He nodded and lightly touched the button. A small icon of something reminding him of a wolf head appeared next to his HP bar at that moment. Ichigo withdrew her sword and returned it in the sheath on her back in a dramatic move.

"Welcome to the Flaming Wolves. Oh, right, I forgot to ask, what's your name?" Sang grinned and held out his hand and Kirito accepted it with a sigh.

"It's Kirito."

"Nice. Well, I'm Sang. That over there is Ichigo. She likes acting like she's got a mean temper, you know, to live up to the name, but don't mind her. She's a real softie once you get to know her."

Kirito didn't know quite what to make of that, not understanding what Sang meant in the least, especially as the girl in question didn't even try to deny it, instead preferring to glare at Sang with her arms crossed.

"Are you done ruining my rep? You know I'm just asking this to see if we can get on with the important things?" she asked irritably.

"Yep, I'm done."

"Good. Now, Kirito, speak up. What's that you've gotta do?"

"Eh… about that… I have to get to Arun," he replied.

"You're going to the World Tree?" Sang piped up.

"Yes. I've got somebody to meet there, so I'm kind of in a hurry."

Ichigo yawned, then stretched her arms. "Is that all?"

"Well… that's about it, yeah."

"Okay."

"Eh?"

"I said okay. Sang, send an IM to Amber and those two idiots that we'll meet up with them in that town in the Scarlet Corridor, back in the Spriggan district. We're close to the border and it's the quickest way for us to reach Arun from here. If they have any complaints, tell them to stick it up their ass."

"On it," the Cait Sith replied in sing-song voice.

Ichigo then raised an eyebrow at Kirito who was standing there with his mouth open, unsure whether to ask her if she were serious or just thank her. Before he could do either, she spoke again.

"Were you expecting I'd say something like, 'Oh sweet, you're going to Arun! Well, we're going to Sylvain, so screw you', huh? You were, weren't you?"

Kirito didn't recognize the name of the place she referred to, but chose to reply honestly. "Not exactly… I just wasn't expecting you'd want to come along."

"It's not like you have a choice but to let us come," she said. "You're a member of my guild now and unlike most of them, Flaming Wolves have only one rule."

"Which one is that?" Kirito asked curiously.

She smiled then and Kirito realized that Sang's words, which he'd regarded as a joke on Ichigo's tab until then, had more truth to them than he could have expected.

"One for all and all for one. No exceptions."

Kirito felt strangely warm inside, but then the memories of what had happened the last time he'd felt that way kicked in. The half-smile that had been present on his face until then distorted and became a grimace of grief before Kirito forced the feelings down.

_It's not the same. This isn't SAO._

It didn't make it feel any easier.

Still, despite that he nodded, managing to choke out the quiet words, "That's… admirable. There aren't many… guilds like that."

"I know. You could say I'm the first player who ever logged into this game, so I've seen it from the start and it's sad. The others make it a priority to find strong players and so do I, but unlike them, I want those who can work as a team. People I feel I can communicate with and judge to be normal, rather than the spoiled brats. I can see it'll take time for you to get used to that."

"… That's an understatement of the year."

Sang snorted. "Don't sweat it. There's nothing hard about this. All you gotta do is stick with us and it's all good. Gill might have issues with that until he finds another rival, but he'll get over it. If it were just you against him, I'm sure you'd win. He's over-confident as it is. It's good somebody showed up to flatten down his ego a bit."

"I assent to that," Ichigo said with a laugh.

Kirito nodded although any certainty about this being the right decision was gone away in an instant. Fighting with the Flaming Wolves, fighting _for_ the Flaming Wolves… he could do that. But what neither of them mentioned was something that should have been obvious and shouldn't even be mentioned. What they were asking from him wasn't his fighting skill and strong stats. They were asking for loyalty, trust and cooperation, but most of all honesty.

That was one thing that terrified him more than anything else. No matter what, being honest with them was something he just couldn't do. At least, not until he found a way out of this game and even then he wasn't sure he'd be able to do it.

Kirito realized his fists were clutched tightly and it took him a few deep breaths to be able to relax them. Sang might have got a glimpse of what he was thinking, but it was Ichigo who decided to let him deal with it on his own. He saw that in the small curl of her lip before she changed the subject.

"So, how long have you been playing ALO?"

Well, she could have asked something better.

"… A few days. I'm pretty new to ALO."

"Wow, you've got some dangerous skills if you're as new as you say," Sang whistled. "Anyway, let's sit down. Ichigo's and my wings need another few minutes to recharge and then we can get on our way."

The other two agreed and joined him on the grass, then Kirito turned to Ichigo, remembering once important piece of information.

"And you? Were you serious about playing this ever since it came out? How long is that?"

Ichigo shrugged then lay down on the grass, looking up at the sky. "A little less than a year, I'd say."

"That's pretty long."

"What can I say? I've always been a sucker for MMOs. When the VR genre first showed up I was crazy about getting my hands on a copy of just about any game, really."

"Lucky you didn't end up in the SAO, then," Sang joked.

Kirito tensed at the mentions of the game, but it was nothing compared to the grimace on Ichigo's face that held a mix of both anguish and disappointment as she spoke.

"Don't remind me. To think there were just three other people in front of me when they said the last copy had been sold… I'm still not sure whether I was cursed or lucky."

Sang muttered something, but Kirito wasn't listening at that point. This was a perfect opportunity for him to hear what was going on in the real world and he would have to be a fool to pass it up. Both Ichigo and Sang seemed like they talked on the subject pretty often and he figured he could take the chances by asking outright.

"So, uh… about that, weren't there any news going these days? I thought I heard something, but I… eh, I wasn't paying much attention."

Sang was quick to respond. "So you didn't hear? The game's been cleared a few days back."

"And the players woke up?" Kirito asked quickly, dreading of the answer.

"Most of them," Ichigo said. "There were some rumors about three hundred players still being unconscious, but those are just—"

"Three-oh-two," Sang interrupted.

"Eh?"

Ichigo looked up at him in confusion.

"Three-oh-two players didn't wake up," he explained. "It _is_ just a rumor, but I got a friend in one of the forums who had his brother stuck in SAO. The authorities questioned his brother on the players that didn't wake up, or at least that's what he said. It's all hushed up, though and I think even that post got deleted an hour after it was put up."

"Why would they want to keep it silent? That doesn't make sense," Ichigo murmured.

"Keep the identities under wraps, maybe? You wouldn't want news reporters knocking on your door first thing in the morning when your kid didn't wake up from a two-year-long coma like all the others, would you?"

Ichigo didn't reply to that.

Kirito looked up at the sky, eyebrows scrunched together in thought. So… did that mean it wasn't just him and Asuna being stuck in ALO? What did _that_ mean? Was it a system error or was it because the other three hundred players failed to log out in time before Aincrad was destroyed? Where did that leave the two of them, though? They both would have logged out if they could have, but they'd been dead in-game and at that sky platform by that point.

"You know what else I heard?" Sang spoke up in quiet voice, as though silence was bothering him. He didn't wait for either Kirito or Ichigo to ask the question.

"SAO and ALO, both games have a real similar server. It's just a rumor, though. People started taking about it because after Argus bankrupted, it was RECTO Progress that bought them. Sometime later, whoa la! Here's ALO. Enjoy, VRMMO junkies! Sure, those same people are starting to talk about nation-wide conspiracy against the advanced technology, but imagine if that were true…"

There was a moment of ominous silence as Kirito did exactly what the Cait Sith suggested. The possibilities were countless, but how could that even be possible?

Ichigo's opinion seemed to differ as she huffed. "Shut up, Sang. You're giving me the creeps."

"We're in the middle of VR. How can I do that?"

"I don't know and I don't care. One more word on the subject and you'll be my target practice for tonight."

"Eh? Tonight? But it's the middle of—"

"It's past midnight, you idiot."

"Oh… right. Whoops."

Ichigo then jumped up on her feet and stretched. "Okay, my wings are back. Are we going?"

The Cait Sith pushed himself up as well. "I don't see why not."

Kirito, on the other hand, hesitated. "My wings aren't—"

"Solvable," the other two said in unison without letting him finish and each grabbed one of Kirito's arms and lifted him up.

"H-hey, hold on a second. What are you—?"

He never finished asking as the two of them steadily rose in the air. Instead, he almost started screaming.

"What are you doing?"

"Don't wriggle! Do you want us to drop you?" Sang bristled.

"Well, no."

"Then shut up and get used to it. You ain't flying on your own until you get a crash-course on Voluntary Flight from Todoh."

Kirito saw there was no room for argument there as he didn't think Ichigo would hesitate even for a second to let him fall if he said something wrong. That particular way of transportation was far from being comfortable, though.


	6. Chapter VI

_"You never know what's around the corner. It could be everything. Or it could be nothing. You keep putting one foot in front of the other, and then one day you look back and you've climbed a mountain."_

**_―Tom Hiddleston_**

**Link to Reality**

Chapter VI

_November 11__th_

The streets were bustling with people having gone out of their offices for their lunch breaks. Just a typical Monday afternoon in Okachimachi, Tokyo.

Everywhere one looked, they could see young people – both students and the ones old enough to work – rushing through the crowds, the mothers walking with their pre-school children and those rare few individuals who happened to have a morning free of any particular duties and obligations.

Tsuboi Ryoutarou – more commonly know as Klein – happened to be one of those few individuals.

Having woken up from the Death Game of Sword Art Online just four days ago, that was understandable. After spending two years with his mind trapped inside the game, his body had greatly weakened and when he had first woken up, just sitting straight had taken a lot of effort and energy on his part. Therefore, he was incapable of going to work or engaging in any physically demanding situations, such as walking up or down the stairs. He had succeeded in convincing his doctor and nurse to release him from the hospital just several hours ago solely by assuring them that he didn't survive in the SAO by being reckless.

If they'd see him now, Klein was sure he would have been put back in that stuffy hospital room in a matter of minutes.

"Are you sure this is it?" the taxi driver asked, looking towards the entrance in the small alley in front of which he'd just parked.

Klein looked at the small paper in his hands on which had the address written down, then he turned to look at the alley.

"Yep," he replied in upbeat voice and reached out to pay for his transportation.

"I—I can't take this, Tsuboi-kun," the driver mumbled while shaking his head.

"Don't give me that, Shouta-san! You gave me a ride all the way here! I can't have you doing that much for free!"

"But—"

"No buts."

The middle-aged driver named Shouta exhaled. "I understand. But first you have to promise you'll call me when you head home."

Klein grimaced. "I don't have much choice, do I?" Then he added in admonishing voice, "Okay, I'll do that. But don't you dare get out of the car to help me!"

He didn't make a single move until the driver reluctantly nodded.

Having seen that, Klein reached for a pair of crutches resting on the back seat beside him. He pushed the door open, but the strength he applied didn't seem to be enough. Using the crutches, he made them open all the way and scrambled out of the car with the best of his ability while heavily leaning on both the car and the insufferable pieces of wood he was now stuck with.

All the while, the driver Shouta was looking at him as though he might fall down.

"Two years ago you wouldn't have driven me anywhere without being sure I'd be able to pay for it, you stingy bastard. Two years from then and I thought I'd see you buying the entire taxi company with that money you took from your innocent customers," Klein mumbled in annoyance, but the purpose of those words wasn't to complain, not really.

Thankfully, Shouta didn't seem to take it the wrong way. He chuckled lightly, but stopped after a few moments.

"Times change, Tsuboi-kun. Two years ago, I thought the same. But the bills piled up, expenses grew, you know how that goes."

Klein nodded. "Well, I'll make sure to give you a call later."

"You do that."

Klein slammed the door shut. He didn't move until Shouta and his car were gone in the endless traffic.

Shouta, the silly old man, was somebody who'd Klein known ever since his high school days, when he'd moved into the house next to his parent's home. Klein had left home a long time ago, but connections still remained and this was one of them.

Klein turned back towards the narrow alleyway and then with the use of crutches, managed to reach the door closest to the corner.

The «Dicey Cafe», that was what the sign above the door said. Klein pushed them open and walked inside at a pace of an old grandma. There was only one person in there, a woman cleaning some glasses behind the bar.

Klein hadn't been to a real world café in over two years, but what he distinctly remembered was that the girls behind the bars or generally any employees always seemed to be busy with something, in a hurry or just gloomy and overworked. The lady clearly had the signs of the later, her moves slow and uninterested, face bored beyond his comprehension, but there was some rather exuberant energy around her when she looked up at Klein when he sat and leaned the crutches against the wood.

"What can I get you?"

She wasn't exactly smiling, but she didn't look displeased at her current occupation being interrupted.

"Actually, I'm looking for somebody," he explained while trying not to stutter. She was pretty and Klein couldn't help it, though. Pretty girls had a strange habit of making him feel nervous. "D-do you happen to know Andrew Gilbert Mills?"

Her lips parted for a moment and her eyes widened a fraction before she seemed to come to a realization.

"So that's how it is," she said, sounding far less friendly than a moment ago. She put the glass aside and told him she'd be back right away before she left the bar to walk through the door in the corner.

Klein blinked, all the while wondering if she was allowed to do that. The place was devoid of any other human being, but what if he were to decide to steal something? Not that Klein would ever do it, but wasn't she taking a whole lot of risk with that? Not everyone were as nice as him.

Still, he wondered a bit about this place. He had agreed to come as soon as he saw the e-mail and was perfectly happy to finally be able to spend time outside, but he the choice of the place still seemed a bit strange, being located where it was.

Also, it was small, probably not able to hold more than thirty people at a time, but there was something strangely relaxing and comfortable about it that had him feeling much better than the usual places he visited back before the SAO launch day.

The lady from the bar returned perhaps a minute or so later, pushing a man in the wheelchair with a strange look on her face. Klein couldn't decide whether she was annoyed or exasperated. The man in the wheelchair, on the other hand, was grinning like he'd seen an old friend, which in this case was pretty close to the truth.

"How did you get out of the hospital without a wheelchair?" he asked without a proper greeting.

Klein replied, "I was lucky. The atrophy wasn't that bad, but moving around for too long is still frustrating and takes a lot of energy. I barely convinced them to let me out this morning. When did you come out?"

"Just last night. They agreed after a short conversation with my wife. Oh right, I almost forgot," Agil said, gesturing at the bartender girl. "Klein, this is my wife, Kathy. Kathy, this is… well, Tsuboi Ryoutarou, but I'd rather keep calling him Klein, if you don't mind."

She gave a small nod in Klein's direction and Klein was mildly aware of his mouth hanging open.

The barte—err, no, Agil's wife, Kathy—regarded him with a quick glance, then turned to Agil while pursing her lip. "I'll leave the two of you alone, as I'm not sure I want to be listening to that. But you better not get anywhere near that helmet."

"Roger that, dear," Agil replied with a grin. She then once again nodded at Klein and walked into the back room without looking back. At that point, Klein managed to lift his finger and point in her direction, his mind still not having caught up.

Agil raised an eyebrow. "Is something the matter?"

Klein shook his head and quickly said, "Your wife…? I didn't—why didn't you ever mention you had a wife?!"

Agil gave him an odd look, then simply said, "You never asked."

Klein couldn't quite think of a suiting answer to that, so he settled on, "She's kind of scary."

"I know. She almost chopped my head off when I told her I wanted to keep the NerveGear as a souvenir."

"Ouch. I can understand her reasoning, though. I've lived alone for three years before SAO and now suddenly I can't seem to get my mother out of my place. They all seem to be under impression that we've spent two years in a coma and have somehow reverted back to five-year-olds, seriously."

"That's how it appears to them, probably. It's their job to worry, after all."

"I know. It's still hard to get used to it. I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I'm starting to miss SAO. There at least you had the freedom to do whatever you liked. In these past there days I've done more psychological tests than in my whole life. And I don't even want to start ranting about medical ones. Ugh. Just ugh."

Agil grimaced. "I know where you're coming from. But does that mean you haven't spoken to the authorities yet?"

Klein shook his head negatively with a bored grimace. "I'm supposed to be meeting them later this afternoon. Some guy from National Security is supposed to come to my place. Why? Did you?"

"Yesterday morning. That's how I got your e-mail address. They wouldn't give anything more than that. If I remember right, the conversation lasted for about two hours."

Klein blinked. "That long? Just what were they asking you about?"

"A little bit of this, a little bit of that," Agil said with a long exhale. "In short, they were mostly asking about my in-game life and sort of things you ask when you want to assess somebody's mental condition, but they were unusually curious about that final battle that set us free."

Nodding in acceptance, Klein asked in quiet voice, "Did they at least give you anything useful? About… about Kirito… Is that kid still alive?"

He wasn't going to lie to himself. Until he'd walked into this place and started talking to Agil face-to-face, he'd been worrying about how things might have changed. Their days in the virtual world have ended and when he'd contacted by Agil via e-mail, he had honestly been thinking that things have now changed and nothing was the same. He thought he'd seen traces of that fear in Agil, too, for a moment, but he couldn't be certain. After all, their conversation was as relaxed as it was back in Aincrad. It was almost enough for Klein to say that it was all right, that nothing had changed.

But a lot of things had. One of those things involved a certain swordsman thanks to whose effort they were sitting in Agil's café alive.

It wasn't that Klein didn't want to breach that subject first. If anything, one of the greatest reasons he'd decided to show up was because he thought that if one person would have been able to learn what happened to Kirito, that would be either Agil or that information broker chick, Argo. However Argo might as well be considered MIA for all Klein knew about her.

Still, that didn't mean the conversation on that topic was anything close to easy. After everything they'd been through, knowing that they only got out because two of the best people to ever stand in Aincrad had sacrificed themselves; that was a lot to swallow. Witnessing it in person, as Klein and Agil had, was even worse. So even before Klein had asked the question, he knew his voice would falter. He knew there was something unexplainably wrong with just mentioning Kirito's name aloud, but he needed to know for certain.

Agil was silent for a long time. He seemed to be deeply immersed in his thoughts before slowly shaking his head. Klein thought of the worst for a brief moment.

"He's alive, all right," Agil said.

"He is?" Klein asked hopefully. "A-and Asuna…? Is there any chance—?"

"They're both alive, or at least that's what I think."

Klein's hopefulness reduced significantly. "You think…? I don't understand. What do you mean? I thought you knew for sure."

Agil shook his head once again. "I don't. But there were some things that those National Security agents said that made me think that way. They wanted to know as much as they possibly could about that victory, but they've never once asked for the players' names. In the end, I asked them about it and asked them why they weren't asking Kirito about it as he'd know much better what happened on the seventy-fifth floor, but they said they'd do it sometime later. The way he worded it was strange, so it got me thinking. Then I asked for Kirito's e-mail address, but they said they couldn't disclose that information because he's a minor."

"Eh…? And you've mentioned him by name?"

"Well, I—"

At that point Agil stopped talking. Klein wanted to know why he'd done it, but the answer became evident as somebody walked into the café. Instinctively, Klein turned around at the sound of of the steps echoing on the floor.

It was a girl.

For a moment, Klein was prepared to swear that this girl was actually Agil's wife, Kathy, but as she walked closer to them, the small differences became obvious. For one, she was shorter and had to be at least several years younger. If he had to guess, he'd put her somewhere close to university age rather than late twenties like Kathy. Her hair was also of darker shade, nearly black, and she had it tied in a hasty pony-tail like she'd done it in a hurry in contrast to Kathy's wavy and free hair. She gave Klein a curious look, then walked to Agil and kissed him on the forehead.

"Hey, I heard you were back," she said. "How are you feeling?"

There was something calming about her voice and captivating about her smile, Klein thought.

"I'd feel a lot better if people would stop babying me," Agil replied honestly.

The girl laughed, something ringing in Klein's ears as he listened. It was a beautiful melody only the girls could produce and she was doing it amazingly right.

Agil was surrounded by so many pretty women. That just wasn't fair. Klein himself didn't remember having any attractive girl visit him during his short stay in the hospital and he'd had a lot of visitors.

"Okay, then I'll leave that to Kathy. Is that one of your SAO friends you've mentioned?" she asked with a lazy wave towards Klein.

"As a matter of fact, he is."

She grinned. "Awesome. I'd stay a bit longer, but I just came in for a few minutes to see you, drop off those groceries Kathy asked me to buy and I'll be on my way. There's a game to be cleared. Did I mention I think I found a way to beat this incredibly hard game I've been playing?"

"First time I heard about it," Agil said.

"Then remind me to tell you later. I know it'll sound pretty stupid, but I'm almost certain it'll work. Anyway, I've gotta go. See you later!"

She disappeared into the back room there and Klein saw Agil shake his head in amusement.

"Who was that just now?" Klein asked, almost breathless.

"Oh, you mean Michelle? That's my wife's little sister. She lives just across the street in that apartment building."

"… You seem pretty close," Klein mumbled.

"You could put it that way. First time I met her she was still a high school kid. Anyway, you could say she's the one who got me into MMOs in the first place. But back to the subject. No, I didn't ask them about Kirito by name, mostly because I got the impression that they already knew it. I know for certain that I wasn't the first one to be questioned, but the ones who were at the seventy-fifth floor boss room are definitely the first ones to be interrogated. Not that I can fault them for following that logic."

Mentions of the SAO quickly erased the pretty girl from his current focus and he sobered up, his voice becoming serious again.

"Yeah… I'm just wondering how they know about," he said as rested his chin on his palm. "I mean, they had to have found some way of knowing what was going on in there. They couldn't have started questioning players alphabetically."

"Do you know what I think?" Agil asked as he maneuvered his wheelchair behind the bar.

"What?" Klein asked predictably.

"Do you want a drink? A beer or a coffee or something?"

"Err, yeah, one beer would be great."

Agil nodded, then a moment later there were two beers at the bar and Agil was maneuvering back towards where Klein was sitting. He then stood up with a lot of effort and joined him at the bar, reaching for his glass and taking a deep gulp.

"I think they're not awake," Agil said suddenly.

Klein, who'd just started drinking his own beer, coughed as he attempted to talk and drink at the same time. It stopped soon, but he was looking at Agil with wide eyes. Nobody needed to say who 'they' were.

"What? You think they're—"

"Oh, I know they're alive," Agil interjected. "I just think they're not awake yet. I could be wrong, but I heard some things that make me think that Kirito and Asuna haven't woken up yet. And I don't think they're the only ones."

Kathy returned in the room just as Klein finished gulping down the final drop of his beer after hearing that. She gave a scornful look at seeing the two of them sitting at the bar and drinking before she went behind the counter and started rummaging around. Klein was beyond considering her presence enough to stop him from complaining.

"Eh, that Kirito… he's always getting in trouble one way or another. And now he just had to drag Asuna along for the ride, too."

There was a knowing smile on Agil's face, though he didn't say anything.

Klein then slammed his glass against the wood a bit harder than necessary and hoarsely said to Kathy, "Give me the strongest drink you have."

Agil raised his hand in protest.

"O-oi, Klein—this isn't Aincrad! We shouldn't be drinking al—"

"You think I'll be able to go through the day without the booze? Just give me the strongest drink you can get. One shot only."

Agil was about to protest again, but against both of the men's expectations, Kathy simply nodded.

"Okay," she agreed, then walked towards the back room.

She returned less than a minute later with a cup and served it to Klein. "It's on the house."

Klein mumbled 'thanks' in surprise and reached for it, taking a long gulp of the given drink. He nearly spat it all out and slammed the cup against the bar. "H-hey! That's oolong tea, not al…co….hol…"

A smirk played on Kathy's face and Klein was speechless while beside him, Agil couldn't seem to be able to hold himself from laughing out loud.

"W-why?" Klein managed to sniffle out. "W-w-why…?"

His friend's wife shrugged in a way that suggested that she could care less about his whining. "I can't have you walking out of my bar in the middle of the day while drunk. If you want booze, then come at night and make sure you have somebody ready to drive you home. I do not tolerate careless customers."

Klein gulped at her tone and nodded in agreement on autopilot. Then he took the served tea and took a small sip.

"You have a scary wife," he mumbled to Agil when she turned her back to them and went back to what she'd been doing moments prior.

It was undeniable that Agil's face and voice were beaming in pride when he mumbled back, "I know."

* * *

_November 11__th_

Kirito rubbed his stiff shoulders a moment after Ichigo and Sang finally released him. He pouted at them, but neither of them seemed to care much about how uncomfortable their way of transportation was. Fortunately, they couldn't do it for long periods of time, but it still left a numbing effect even despite the NerveGear being unable to transfer pain.

"You could have let me know you were going to do that," he complained.

"Where's the fun in that?" Sang retorted cheerfully.

"I'd have been able to tell you I've been practicing," Kirito said.

"You have?" Ichigo asked in surprise.

Kirito scratched his nose. "It's not quite mastered yet, but I'm getting there. As soon as your wings recharge, I'll show you."

"You could have said that in the first place," she grumbled. "Did you think I enjoyed having you hang along that way?"

"I did say it."

"I don't remember."

"That's because you were the one who said we should ignore him," Sang quipped.

Ichigo blinked and turned to Kirito, but he just nodded in agreement. She frowned in thought, then her breathing stopped sharply. "Oh. Right. I remember now. Whoops."

Kirito was very close to saying that it was fine, but Sang chose that particular moment to change the subject.

"Hey, I know I said I was going to stay logged in for most of the afternoon today, but there's some homework I gotta finish if I want to stick around, so I hope you two don't mind waiting for me for half an hour or so? Is that delaying it too much?"

Wanting to object, Kirito automatically looked towards Ichigo, because he honestly wanted to continue immediately by walking, if nothing else, but before he could get a word out, she replied with a short and simple 'do what you want'.

"Don't go without me," Sang teased, then logged out.

Kirito blinked as his avatar didn't immediately disappear, rather collapsing in the heap on the grass. He nudged the Cait Sith's shoulders, but there was no reaction from the cat-boy.

"Is this all right?"

Ichigo took a deep breath as she sat lay down on the grass with arms behind her head and legs crossed. "We're out of the safe area, kiddo. You can't log out in the neutral territories immediately. Your avatar stays behind for fifteen minutes after you log out and the only way around that is to have somebody guard it unless you want somebody to kill you while you're not even in the game."

"But then that cave where you—we've logged out… wasn't it the same?" Kirito asked logically as he sat on the grass.

At that, Ichigo smirked. "Wrong. That cave _was_ a safe area. It took months, but I've mapped out all the safe areas everywhere in Leprechaun, Spriggan and Imp territories and we're somewhere pretty close to the border between the Leprechaun and Spriggan territories right now."

"That's pretty great…" he mumbled.

"Naturally. So, when did you log in? I know you weren't here this morning, but I thought schools didn't let out before three PM. Sang lives practically a block away from his school so he doesn't waste much time on those things, but just when did you get here?"

Kirito turned away from her, looking in the distance towards the bright blue sky. He'd resolved it with himself over the night after Ichigo and Sang had logged out. He was going to be honest with them. So long as it didn't involve his SAO history and inability to log out, he was going to reply to any of their questions to the best of his abilities.

At first, he'd even wondered about telling them everything, but there was no way of knowing what they would do then. Even on the off-chance Ichigo and Sang believe his words, what was there they could do? Kirito had long since come to the conclusion that his transfer from SAO to ALO was no accident. He had yet to hear Asuna's opinion on the subject as he didn't want to allude to that via IMs, but he was almost certain she'd agree. So even if he told the Flaming Wolves the truth, other than contacting authorities, what else could they do? It was questionable whether anyone would even believe them, seeing as they had no way of proving it without getting the cops to log into ALO and even then it would be tough.

Everything about the System Error message he got when he'd try to log out seemed legit enough and there was nothing else special to his account that would attract attention, unless if he decided to give out the names of SAO players and his real name, but was there any way to be sure that the tempering with the NerveGear now was safe? He didn't know. He didn't want to test it out, either. Perhaps dying in game could settle all of his problems, but he didn't want to test it, not until he found Asuna.

Which had left him with a single possible solution – the one which he was applying right now.

"Actually, I'm not going to school," he admitted in low voice.

"No? Why not?" Ichigo didn't sound very surprised, but she never did. There was no way of saying what she was thinking.

"Just… some things made it impossible for me to go at the moment, even if I wanted to."

"Oh."

She didn't try asking him anything more about that.

"Did you want to log out, too?" Kirito asked suddenly. "I'd watch out if anything happened—"

"Nah, I'm fine. Just bored and I can't go looking for somebody to attack until Sang's avatar's gone. You wanna play something?"

"Play something…? Like what?"

"I don't know. Rock-paper-scissors? Red Hands? I'd even suggest the Battleships, but that'd be pretty much impossible."

Kirito couldn't help it – he laughed.

"You want to play something while you're inside a game?" he asked.

"Keep laughing all you want, but after another two minutes of waiting, you'll be just as bored."

"No, that's not why I'm laughing," Kirito said as he calmed down. "It just seems ironic, that's all there is to it."

Just then a message window popped up before Kirito and he opened it with a slight smile, knowing only one person who would be sending him any messages at this point. It was a simple, honest text that mirrored Kirito's feelings almost entirely.

«Ame-chan is in her element again. We should reach Everglade today and the Rainbow Valley tomorrow, but if I've learned anything by now, it's that Ame-chan doesn't know the meaning of the word enough. She'll have us meeting even more of her friends in Everglade.

P.S. What's that I've seen about you joining a guild?»

"A friend?" Ichigo asked out of boredom as she watched Kirito materialize the virtual keyboard in order to respond.

"The one I'm going to meet," Kirito explained.

"Right, you've mentioned it."

He nodded absently while typing his response.

«I can relate. About this guild I've joined, I'll tell you when I see you. It's a bit of a long story.»

_An understatement_, he thought as he touched the send button.

Thinking back to how he'd lost, he should have seen through their plan right away. He'd taken Ichigo's words for granted and had generally underestimated all of them as a group or individually. He still wasn't sure how he'd managed to come out victorious, but he should have known Ichigo and Sang wouldn't just let him go after seeing their friends struck down, as harmless as it was.

On the bright side, at least they weren't looking for revenge. Most of his HP had recovered since the previous night and while his HP bar wasn't yet hundred percent full, ninety-two was pretty good considering there were no healing crystals. A lot of that had been helped by Ichigo's healing magic, but she went only as far as to get him out of the red zone before she'd logged out last night, saying the rest of it wasn't her business.

On the not-so-bright side, finding a topic for conversation between him and Ichigo was coming off as impossible. It wasn't that they didn't have much to talk about, but rather that none of them wanted to pry after having exhausted all the neutral subjects. Kirito didn't feel as though he had the right to ask her any personal questions and in turn she didn't try asking anything too deep, either. A part of it had to come from the fact that neither of them was very good in communicating with others. Ichigo fared better, or at least she made it seem that way as she always seemed to know what to expect of others.

Well, that was one of Kirito's impressions of her. He still couldn't decide whether she was just that good at reading him or simply didn't care. They got along well, but that was it.

"If you don't want to play anything, I'm going to take a nap," she warned him as another moment of silence passed.

"Isn't that going to automatically log you out?"

"Not if I don't fall asleep for real."

Kirito huffed, but she ignored it as she lay down in the grass and closed her eyes.

If she'd decided to log out, Kirito would have used the opportunity to practice voluntary flight. He didn't really mind her presence, but he wanted to practice the landings a bit more and he didn't want her to see that solely for the sake of his own pride. Not that he was going to do it now.

Taking a cue from her idea, Kirito relaxed and settled on comfortably on the grass.

He wasn't sure how much time had passed before anyone spoke, but it had been longer than he expected as, by that point, Sang's avatar was gone.

The first person to speak happened to be neither Kirito nor Ichigo, nevertheless.

"Oi, guys, take a look at this!"

It was a shout, but coming from the distance, it carried over to Kirito in much lower volume. He cracked a single eye open and scanned the sky, detecting several players a bit further above the trees.

The one who shouted that was a Salamander player that was drifting the closest to them out of the entire party. A second later, several of his friends joined him.

Three… Four…. Five.

Five in total, Kirito deduced.

"You think they've logged out?" one of the Salamanders asked curiously.

"Their mistake if they did," the other replied. "Come on. We'd be fools to miss this chance."

Kirito glanced in Ichigo's direction to see her her eyes were closed, forehead wrinkling and eyebrows scrunched together. It was clear that she didn't like what she was hearing.

"I hate my naps being interrupted," she complained in low voice.

Despite what the Salamanders said, it appeared they were still waiting on somebody before deciding to land. Their attention was on something that was in their own altitude and not a single one of them was looking towards Kiirito and Ichigo.

"Any thoughts?" he asked.

"Yeah. I just found something to pass time. There're a few more of them then I'd like, so you can join if you want."

"… I'm considering it." By that point Kirito was already sitting up, his hand gripping the hilt of his sword.

"Two of them are mages if my eyes aren't playing tricks. From what I've seen of your abilities, you're a meele fighter so watch out for them. Those guys can be scary and the Salamanders have an affinity for fire elements, which are mostly focused on attack," Ichigo said as she equipped her own weapon and drew it.

As unusual as it was, Kirito spent several moments just looking at it. The length was approximately the length of his current weapon and there was a thin bandage wrapped around the hilt. The guard was rectangular and wasn't providing much protection and the weight had to be immense, but Ichigo didn't seem to be affected by it at all.

"What're you looking at?" she asked.

"Ah, sorry. Your sword is just interesting…"

"Oh… that," she mumbled as she looked at it. "It's player-made, same guy as the one who made yours. Amber must've recognized the black-on-white signature. Nobody really knows how he does it. You wouldn't believe what pains I had to go through to get it."

"Is it an interesting story?" Kirito asked.

"Not really, just me going through whole lot of crap to gather enough money to buy it. Still, Sang thinks it's hilarious I'd go so far to get it, just because it looks like… Well, let's just say it's very much like a weapon from this legendary anime I've watched a long time ago, but never mind. You don't look like you'd know what I'm talking about, anyway. But it looks like chitchat's over."

Kirito looked up to see the group of seven Salamanders, looking down on them from their positions in over three meters above the ground.

"The chick's right, so kindly hand over your money and items," one of the seven said.

"We promise not to hurt you for real," the other one added, cackling at his lame pun.

Not even the Salamanders seemed to be amused. Most of them were just hanging in the air with varied looks on their faces, from annoyance and boredom to excitement and lack of enthusiasm. They all had their weapons drawn and at the ready, indicating that in spite of their personal feelings on the matter, they would still fight.

Kirito didn't like that much.

"Seven against two, isn't that a bit much?"

The Salamander that seemed to be in charge shrugged. "As they say, there's no kill like overkill. Looks like you'll just have to make do."

Kirito glanced towards Ichigo before standing up. "I have to admit, listening to that friend of yours boasting sounded far cooler than hearing it from them."

There was a grin on her face as she positioned her weapon on her shoulder. "Of course it did. Gill's worth a dozen of these guys."

"Be sure to watch my back from the spells."

"Oi, you're supposed to be watching my back. I'm in charge here."

She seemed to have said it only for the sake of the argument, but Kirito wasn't listening to her anymore. He swung his sword as a short test while the Salamanders appeared to be waiting to begin their attack.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, he wondered why they hadn't done it by now. Perhaps they could have won in several hits only. That chance was gone now. As the battle was going to be seven against two, Kirito wasn't above using any opportunities provided. Depending on the strength of these guys and the competence of the mages, Kirito and Ichigo might actually be at a disadvantage.

The grey wings materializing on his back, he crouched in preparation to fly. _Now is a good time as any to test how competent my flying skills really are._

He put his left foot forward and adjusted his center of gravity, the sword in his hand loosely pointed towards the Salamanders. Then he blasted off the ground with all his strength.


	7. Chapter VII

_We stretch out both of our arms... pass through the clouds, straight to the sky... Even though we touched the Moon and the Mars... we still cannot touch the truth._

—_**Bleach manga, volume 10**_

**Link to Reality**

Chapter VII

_November 11__th_

There were a lot of things Ichigo could have done when she first became aware of the Salamander threat. Just about all of them included her getting up and beating them up, except for maybe one and even that one involved her giving an order to Kirito to do it instead while she just sat behind and analyzed his abilities and skills. Perhaps that would have been the smartest solution, if she had the will of steel to stay behind while others fought. She'd tried it twice by now and both times ended up with her getting involved anyway. She'd fared better the latter time, when her guild members faced Kirito, but when she realized they lost, the only thing keeping her back were the low durability stats on her sword. She had been certain that after two, maybe three parries, it would have broken entirely and she hadn't wished to risk that.

Well, that, and she genuinely thought Sang was right about Flaming Wolves needing new members. Her sword's durability had been the most important thing, though.

By the time the Salamanders showed up, she'd taken care of that. It wasn't at the hundred percent, much to her dismay.

Not that anyone else except her had that information. Which is why she was surprised to see Kirito looking so eager to get involved in a fight.

He took a strange position, completely open at both the front and the back with no regard for the damage he might take that Ichigo wondered for a moment if he was being serious, because this was one fight where serious was exactly what he needed to be. It was a game, yes, but she didn't fancy losing to a gang of bullies. At least her guild had the decency to… well, never mind. Gill had sentenced that particular decency to death when he decided to attack Kirito the day before, the latter's hidden skills not withstanding. There was no way Gill could have known about them.

Ichigo wasn't going to lie to herself; their chances in this battle weren't high. From what she'd seen of Kirito's abilities, his reaction time was better than anything she'd seen in her life, but his way of dealing with magic was bad. It went to clearly suggest that as good as he was in melee fighting, it had to be an ability transferred from the real world. His in-game experience had to be as bad as it could get.

Therefore, Ichigo assessed that Kirito's strength lay in reacting rather than initiating.

Her assessment was blown to shreds when he launched into the air.

In a moment, he was gone and some sort of strange force hit her, blowing away most of her clothes and hair.

Instinctively, Ichigo lifted her arm to protect her eyes from the wind. The skirt she wore wasn't that short, but in that instant she felt grateful that everyone present was far above her. She urgently looked up while trying to comprehend what just happened.

_What was…? Was that a sonic boom? But how?_

She didn't have the time to wonder about that. What Kirito did surprised both her and the Salamanders, allowing him to OHK their mace user.

Or at least Ichigo thought that was what he'd done. Salamander's Remain Light was there, but she couldn't assent to seeing anything.

_Way too fast!_

She scowled and gripped her sword tighter.

_No way I'm lagging behind!_

Her wings materialized and Ichigo followed, using the given opportunity. Kirito's attack was hardly a surprise attack, but it still managed to get most of the Salamanders into panicked states and Ichigo would be a fool not to exploit it.

Her weapon, rather inaptly named «Silent Abyss», was a one-handed sword that had a matching shield stored in her inventory, but Ichigo had so far used it so scarcely that there were only two people other than the blacksmith who'd made it who knew of its existence. Even now when the situation was so dire, she had no intention of getting it out.

Her initial slash was strong, but the Salamander under attack, a lanky-looking brown haired teen, managed to get his head straight for long enough to get out of the way before she hit him. Ichigo followed with several more quick slashes, but he dodged by retreating backwards with no skill whatsoever.

"Crap! We forgot the girl!"

Ichigo heard the quick chanting a moment before she noticed a beam of light heading in her direction. She flew above it, then dived straight down to attack the mage, the only one of the Salamanders who had his hair as long as Ichigo's. For a moment she got high enough to take a look at the situation and she relaxed significantly to learn that from seven, the enemy numbers got reduced to five.

_That kid's good. We might actually win at this rate._

Her attack was blocked by a hasty shield spell used by the mage before the other Salamander recovered and came at her from behind. Ichigo ducked under it and lashed out, her sword managing to sever the Salamander nearly in half.

He cursed, then tried getting her with a vertical swing.

Ichigo could see several points of her HP dropping as she parried. It was a strong swing and it was no wonder her in-game life got reduced a tiny bit even if her arms held steady. She tried pushing him back, but the brown-haired Salamander was holding his own.

Then her back got hit by something, completely throwing off her balance.

Ichigo rocketed towards the ground for the few seconds it took her wings to work again, but the blow had taken roughly a quarter of her HP. In mid-air, she saw the Salamander mage pointing his hands at her and chanting a much, much longer spell.

_What was I thinking, forgetting I'm the one supposed to be guarding somebody's back! Ugh, where's Amber when you need her?_

Ichigo accelerated towards the mage with a wild scream. The other Salamander got in her way with an attack, but she hardly paid it any heed as it came her way. She countered it, then rather than wasting time on pointless swordsmanship, she used the acceleration to boost her strength and push it aside.

Her sword in a momentum, she wouldn't be able to stop even if she tried, so Ichigo directed it so that she could spin-kick the Salamander aside without hindrance, then used her wings to accelerate towards her target.

His hands were gleaming in dark purple light, suggesting use of dark magic element instead of fire, but she could care less. She changed her flight pattern just as the spell was released and managed to get away with only a scorch on her left hand and several points of her HP disappearing.

The mage's eyes were wide as she slashed him from hip to shoulder. His HP was dropping rapidly, but Ichigo wasn't in the mood to wait to see how far down it would go. She tightened her hold on her sword and slashed the mage deep across his chest. A second later he was swallowed up by the red flames.

Ichigo's head whipped to the other side to see that Kirito had managed to drag away the rest of the Salamanders, but he was facing against three who frequently made way for the mage shoot at him. Kirito's HP was still high in the green and he seemed to have taken no damage, but the two Salamanders seemed to be trying to attack in sync now.

_Damn, I didn't know that strategy spread so quickly. These guys don't seem to be renegades, either._

She flew towards them as fast as the flight speed limiter would let her and slashed at them, disrupting their synchronized attack.

"Oh, hey. Nice of you to drop by," Kirito said as she came to a stop a little bit in front of him.

It gave a chance to the Salamanders to regroup as much as it gave a chance to Ichigo to talk back.

"You seemed to be having trouble so I figured I'd give you a hand."

He shook his head with a smile that made his face look so much more mischievous than how he really was. Ichigo figured it was because of the shape of his eyes, they were what gave him the troublemaking expression, but he probably could have been going for it. It unnerved her as much as it amused her, especially now that she'd become a bit more aware of his abilities.

"Four, huh? Do you think we can finish this in under a minute?" he asked with a look towards the Salamanders.

Two of them glared back while the other two seemed to be coming up with some sort of a plan. Ichigo didn't like it in the least. She decided then, and said, "… I'm not healing you if we don't. I'll take care of the mage."

Kirito nodded. Without any cue, he flew straight towards them.

Ichigo wanted to complain about him not waiting for her, but dismissed it. That guy was clearly no team player.

She wasn't sure whether Kirito was planning for it or not, but he once again tried to attack the mage. The one Salamander she had previously been fighting before joining with him was the first to react and head out to stop him, with another one following.

The remaining Salamander, broad-shouldered man with a spear, had his eyes on Ichigo as she tried to stab him from the front.

Unlike any of the others, he seemed to be completely calm, the expression on his face hardly bothered even after he lost three of his companions.

"I recognize you," he told Ichigo calmly.

Then he attacked with his spear just as her blade was about to connect with his armor.

The tip of the spear ended up right under her armpit harmlessly and Ichigo though, _This is it. I win._

Then he smirked.

The spear twisted before she could comprehend what happened, entirely sabotaging her attack and leaving only a single thin train on his armor as it twisted her arm in a way that she had no choice but to let go of the blade, not from the pain, but from the inability to control her avatar's hand. Then he completely sliced it off. How, she didn't know. Half of Ichigo's remaining HP was just gone with that attack and her eyes widened in shock.

It didn't hurt, per see, but there was something upsetting about how easily she was outmatched. This was the first time she'd ever lost her limb in a fight and there way no way she could say she liked it.

He swung at her again, but Ichigo had the presence of mind draw back and dive back after her sword.

Her arm had long since disappeared, but her sword was on the ground and she might still be able to use it even though she'd never held it with her left hand.

The mage used the opportunity to shoot offensive spells at her, but Ichigo managed to avoid them by a hair's breadth. The Salamander wasn't far behind, yet she succeeded in landing to get her blade and immediately launched back up while he still couldn't change direction with a yell.

Holding her weapon in her left hand was _awkward_. She felt the way she did back when she tried to swing the sword for the first time in her life and that kind of feeling was a bad sign in a battle that was so equally matched.

Still, she swung it and as the Salamander parried, it took all her strength of will not to release the hold of her sword.

"You'll pay for that!" she snapped, then widely lashed out. The Salamander matched each and every one of her attacks with ease.

"Come on, I thought you were better than that, leader of the Flaming Wolves!"

"You haven't seen a thing yet!" Ichigo yelled in spite of herself.

"Then show me!"

She was doomed, she knew that much. Winning was now a faraway dream and Kirito was too busy with the other two along with the mage to give her enough time so that she could leave her sword behind and get the Salamander with magic.

Nevertheless, she refused to give in.

"Who the hell are you?" she demanded in between attacks.

"Forgot me already? Man, that sucks!"

But from his expression she could see that he could care less whether she recognized him or not. There was something familiar about him, though, as though she had seen him somewhere before.

He seemed to get bored with the clashes that harmed neither of them, going for a strong thrust instead, but Ichigo predicted it in time. It allowed her to use her wings to propel high in the air to get out of the way.

"Running away, eh?!" he shouted after her, but Ichigo ignored him.

She was flying around haphazardly and with no other objective than disconcerting him before attempting an attack once more.

Her idea got busted as soon as she saw caught sight of the mage throwing a knife at Kirito. In that moment, all of her plans and intentions came to a screeching halt and she headed that way instead, realizing the knife was going to hit.

It probably wouldn't mean much to Kirito's HP as it was going to hit him in the upper left arm, but by now Ichigo understood that her role as a frontline fighter was as good as over. The only chance for them to get out this was if she could assist Kirito in getting rid of the mage, although that was a questionable possibility. As he was throwing knives, it had to mean that the mage's MP were nearly gone.

_I can work with that!_

She managed to deflect the knife with her sword a second before the Salamander pursuing her caught up. She was forced to twist and block, but that took away several more of her points. The attack pushed her backwards, right past surprised Kirito.

His eyes widened as he noticed her condition, momentarily freezing in the air.

"Ichigo…"

"Behind you!"

The spear-wielding Salamander didn't seem to care which one of them he would cut, but her warning to Kirito arrived in time. The look in his eyes sharpened and he reversed the grip on his sword before doing a strange swinging motion. Ichigo thought he was wasting precious moments, but it seemed to help him accelerate the subsequent slash that went under the spear's tip and very close to where the Salamander's hands were positioned.

Sparks flashed at the collision before the spear was cleanly sliced in two.

The look of shock on Salamander's face clearly mirrored Ichigo's own.

_Just how did he…? How much power behind his attack was there?_

"H-how did you—?"

"Ichigo!"

She was alarmed at Kirito's sudden call. She saw he was looking somewhere behind her and it took her a moment to remember that it wasn't just two Salamanders they were fighting.

She blindly ducked and turned with an inward swing. Something was sliced and dissolving into light, but Ichigo couldn't see it. All she could see was the tip of the blade that missed her nose by a tiny fraction, having probably been intended to stab her in the lower back.

Ichigo's breathing quickened and she could swear that right now in her real body, her heart was beating two hundred beats a minute.

The blade then left a thin cut on her cheek as it fell down. What she'd sliced off was the attacker's hand.

The Salamander blinked, too stunned to give a proper reaction. Ichigo blinked, too, out of utter confusion as to how it had come to that. But then she strengthened her grip on the weapon in her hand and diagonally slashed the attacker's unguarded stomach.

His HP dropped deep into the red zone and she realized this was a one-time-chance. Somewhere behind her, Kirito's fight with that that spear-user and the remaining two Salamanders was still ongoing, so there was no time to hesitate.

Gulping, she straightened and used her wings to give her a good enough boost. She kicked the Salamander in the face and sent him rocketing towards the ground too fast for him to use his wings to get out unscathed. Even if her kick might have done no damage, the fall did what she'd failed to do.

Her head then turned towards where Kirito should be.

* * *

Kirito was becoming frustrated. The spear-user that had given both him and Ichigo so much trouble was good, but not so much in stats or attack strength, rather his evading and stalling skills were high. The one hit he managed to land on the guy before he'd went after Ichigo was enough to get the man's HP into the yellow zone, but after that, almost nothing connected. After that, as far as he got was slicing his weapon in half but even that didn't seem to be enough – he just equipped another, only of slightly lower durability.

And the Salamander wasn't even that good. They both knew Kirito was better, much better, yet that was what made this fight so unfair. As long as Kirito's sword was, that spear still had a better reach and the guy knew how to use it. His attacks were constantly aimed at either Kirito's eyes or neck and since either of those attacks connecting would be bad, Kirito spent most of his time parrying.

It was a good strategy, as parrying could be a double-edged sword in confrontations like this, but that particular stat of Kirito's was maxed out so unless if the Salamander came at him with an incredibly strong attack, the most damage he could do was take a single HP point in every five minutes.

Or at least that was Kirito's current guess.

The problem was that if the remaining two Salamanders weren't dealt with soon, they might attack him from behind while he was too busy parrying these attacks.

Taking on all three of them wouldn't be nearly as difficult if they had a strategy of some sort, but it took a while for Kirito to figure out that the only tactics and planning at work here were individual. The mage was adapting to the openings the other two made the best he could, but as he was never forewarned, it all came down to his judgment and speed, which wasn't that high.

The spear-user was going wild at the closest person in his reach, and the final Salamander was trying to keep anyone from reaching the mage. Simple, but unfortunately effective.

The fight had to be going for five minutes, maybe a little longer, but it felt like it was lasting for too long. Kirito glanced towards Ichigo, worried as she was clearly not used to holding a sword in her left hand and most of the times she ended up parrying an attack, a little bit of her HP would drop. It might not be much, but seeing as hers was in the red zone, something like that couldn't go on forever.

Then an idea struck him.

It might just be enough to grant them the victory.

He applied more strength in his counterattack than usual, forcing the spear-user to retreat for a bit. He quickly followed with a stronger attack that would keep him busy for a short while as he shouted.

"Ichigo, I have a plan, but you'll have to cooperate on this!"

"What the hell took you so long?!"

He snorted at her response.

Then his eyes narrowed at the spear user who lashed out again. Kirito twisted his body backwards, letting both the spear and the Salamander pass slightly above him. Knowing that any sword attack wouldn't come in time, he swung his foot and caught the spear-user's side, flinging him downwards.

"Give me your sword!" he shouted as he soared towards Ichigo.

"_What?_"

"Just do it!"

She was clearly about to object, but then a bit more of her HP got taken and there was roughly seven percent of it left in her bar. Realizing she could do nothing but cooperate if she wanted to win this, she nodded, then withdrew her sword and flung it in Kirito's direction.

"I'll kill you if you break it!"

The subsequent attack nearly got her.

Kirito grabbed the hilt of the oversized cleaver, sighing in relief that he didn't catch the wrong side. It would have been bad if his hand got sliced off now. He also had no doubt that Ichigo was going to follow through on her threat.

He corrected his hold on her sword, the weapon settling comfortably in his hand. The blade itself was lighter than the sword he was currently using, but not by significant amount. If Ichigo was afraid of it breaking, then the durability of it had to be much lower than it seemed.

_I need to finish this quickly._

The spear-user glanced at his newly equipped weapon with interest.

"So you think that'll help you win?" he asked doubtfully.

Kirito shrugged. "If it were one on one, I wouldn't need this much."

The Salamander laughed. "You cocky brat." He then charged at the top of his speed.

This time, Kirito attempted neither to dodge nor evade. Instead, he held out the hand with his sword, blocking the charge coming after his eye once again.

The Salamander was pissed. His rage only grew as he barely missed the slash going after his head, but Kirito wasn't done yet.

He pushed the Salamander away and took a very good look at the spear in the few moments he gained. Finding a weak point to a sword was easier said than done, however, especially as it could be hidden if the user was holding the weapon right where it was, which the case with the Salamander was.

But then he caught it and launched into an attack sequence that his nerves have learned by heart by now.

Starbust Stream; the moment when the final parts of his defense were given up on for the sake of nearly unstoppable offense.

The Salamander didn't know what was coming.

He parried and blocked first and the second strike in quick succession, but the third one faltered his defense. He managed to react in time to stop the x-shaped attack, but by that point Ichigo and the other two Salamanders came to a stop with their fight in order to watch, Ichigo being halfway through reciting a spell.

Kirito paid it no attention whatsoever as he tried to recreate the skill that had taken him so far during SAO.

Sixth, seventh, eighth… All three attacks did far less damage than they should have, but at that point the Salamander knew what was coming. His HP crossed from yellow into the red zone and kept dropping with every hit both parried and not.

By the twelfth consecutive hit, his weapon was gone.

The Salamander's eyes were wide in shock as it dissolved into polygons. Kirito didn't intend to stop – at least not until Ichigo screamed at him to do exactly that.

Both his swords were touching the Salamander's chest by then, armor long since gone. The Salamander was too freaked out to do anything, but as Kirito looked at Ichigo, he could see there was a reason behind her asking from him to stop.

She flew over towards them and came to a halt, then asked to the Salamander, "So, who are you exactly?"

He didn't dare move, but he snorted. "Name's Carter. Two weeks ago I won against two of your guild members during the challenge. You eloquently told me to back off when I asked about joining."

Kirito looked from the Salamander – Carter – to Ichigo, whose lips parted in surprise. She blinked, first in confusion, then in realization.

"Oh."

Carter scowled, seemingly forgetting about the two swords at his chest.

"Oh? _Oh?_ Is that all you've gotta say?!"

"Well, what do you want me to say? That I'm sorry? That I'll make it up to you? Or that I don't care and I should just finish you off?" Ichigo demanded defensively.

"Telling me why would be nice for starters!"

"Then how about you first telling me how the hell you were reading my moves!"

Kirito almost decided to withdraw the weapons. "If you are going to argue…"

"We're not," Ichigo said immediately. "Actually, I don't care how he did it. He probably watched the challenges from the start, so that would explain it all."

"Che! You're damn right, I watched those things! Flaming Wolves are supposed to be the unbeatable guild! Everyone who knows about you wants to see it! Those are the only times one of you actually loses!"

"That's the point! I won't let a jerkass join my guild solely for the sake of fighting! I remember exactly why we turned you down and that's because fighting is what you want, fighting and nothing else!" Ichigo shouted and gathered her hand in a fist. Then she punched him in the face.

Kirito and Carter were equally stunned. Not a single point dropped from his HP, but it made up for a stifled giggle that came from one of the Salamanders. Kirito drew the swords back and held out Ichigo's to her.

"Looks like you want to finish this," he said when she gave him a questionable look.

She glanced at her blade, then looked at Carter. She accepted her sword back. Then said in low voice, "This is for Amber."

She stabbed it through his chest before he could get away. Carter screamed in rage as his avatar got swallowed in bright red flames, leaving only a tiny Remain Light behind. Kirito glanced at the remaining mage and the final Salamander who didn't seem to be particularly surprised with that end.

Kirito himself would have preferred it if Ichigo had let him go. It took additional reminding that nothing was going to happen to him, other than having to nurse his bruised ego.

Ichigo then turned to the remaining two Salamanders with a glare. "So, who's next?"

The mage raised his hands in defense. "Err, actually, I think we're done here. Sorry. I didn't realize you guys were members of the Flaming Wolves."

"We're pretty much exhausted anyway," the other Salamander agreed.

Ichigo glared, but Kirito grabbed her wrist before she could take out her frustration on them.

She glared at him instead, but he didn't waver.

"What's the point of kicking somebody when they're already down?" he asked.

She snatched her wrist out of his hand, but didn't try to argue. Instead, she landed and Kirito turned back to the two Salamanders.

"In her language, that probably means that you can go before she changes her mind."

The players nodded.

"That was a pretty good fight, Spriggan!" the mage shouted before flying away.

Kirito nodded, although the words sounded strange coming from somebody who he'd been fighting to death just moments ago. He never had a habit of holding grudges against the others, but this felt odd.

He landed next to Ichigo and asked, "Are you all right?"

"Yep," she bit out. "I just need to wait another fifteen to twenty minutes for my arm to get restored. Also, I want to know exactly what was the meaning of that."

"Eh? The meaning of what?"

"Your crazy fighting, that's what! Actually, never mind! Forget I said that. Just promise me a spar after I get you to Arun and we're good."

Kirito was stopped from answering by a sound of clapping coming from behind them. He and Ichigo instinctively turned.

Amongst the trees stood Sang, a grin on his face and admiration shining brightly in his eyes as he clapped. "That was _brilliant_!"

"And when did you get there?" Ichigo asked with a frown.

"Oh, just a short while ago. I think the fight just started when I logged in. Didn't I say it already, but you were amazing!"

"And it didn't even occur to you that we might need help?!"

"You were handling it just fine," Sang dismissed with a wave of his hand.

"Fine? _Fine?_ I lost my arm and you call that FINE?! You coward!"

"Oh come on, don't get so melodramatic," Sang pleaded.

"I'm going to kill you. The first opportunity I get, I am _so_ going to enjoy killing you."

Sang's smile became a little forced as he heard that, as if he just realized that he'd stepped on a landmine. "I… I guess I have something to look forward to."

"Oh, sure you do. I can't wait!"

Kirito exhaled as the banter between the two of them continued. He glanced at his HP bar that was scarcely above the half mark, then turned to look at Ichigo's. There was about five percent of it left, a little less than he expected.

He interrupted the ongoing banter by touching her shoulder and Ichigo turned to look at him with vigor.

"What?" she demanded.

"You should get yourself healed," he said simply.

"Oh, I'll do it! I'll do it!" Sang volunteered.

She grumbled something under her breath before nodding shortly. "You want to head there right away, no?" she asked.

Kirito nodded. "We've been delayed for too much already."

"Okay. As soon as my HP is over fifty percent, we're going. Is that okay?"

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it. Although, I keep wondering… you can't be in that much of a hurry for just a girl."

A small smile appeared on Kirito's face. "You're right, it isn't just for a girl." The way he said it, though, made it clear he didn't want to discuss the subject any further.

Sang complained aloud, asking how come he didn't know anything about Kirito's motives, but Ichigo made it easier to bear as she told Sang to stuff it and start healing her, to which Sang simply had to come up with a counter-argument. It continued that way for a while, but it wasn't as annoying as he'd normally expect it to be. The two of them friends for a while if the way they talked to each other disclosed anything and Sang clearly knew which buttons to press to get particular reactions out of her.

_Hmm… maybe I should take up Ichigo on that sparring she'd suggested,_ Kirito thought as he looked towards the World Tree in the distance.

* * *

**Author's Note**: Next time, we get to see how Asuna is dealing with Ame and other distractions. Who knows, maybe she's luckier than Kirito in that regard.


	8. Chapter VIII

"_I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve."_

—_**Bilbo Baggins, Fellowship of the Ring**_

**Link to Reality**

Chapter VIII

_November 12__th_

"Is that it? Is that Everglade?" Asuna asked.

In her peripheral vision, she saw Tramp hastily opening the map, but the response came from Ame, who looked just as impressed as Asuna as they flew towards the line of lights ahead.

"It is. It has to be. There are no other towns in this direction."

"It's beautiful," Asuna breathed.

Laying before them was a town smaller in size than one of the villages on the first floor back in Aincrad, but it was bathed in dozens of different lights. It appeared that every building had a shade and a color of its own, leaving the rainbow-like shine in the night sky of ALfheim. Somewhere behind it lay a bridge that connected the town with the Rainbow Valley, reflecting the colors of the town itself.

Asuna began to understand where the name had derived from. The valley itself wasn't visible from their position, but the bridge connecting it to the rest of the wetlands area gleamed in colors of the rainbow. She wondered what sort of materials must have taken for that to be built up, or at least she did until she remembered that ALfheim Online was a Virtual Reality game. That toned down her amazement for a bit, but nonetheless, she wondered who had designed it.

"We should land there," Tramp said with a gesture towards the city gates.

"We could just fly to an inn instead," Ame argued. "It's past midnight and I have to get up for school in the morning. We can sightsee tomorrow!"

"Come on, Ame, just five minutes," Tramp complained.

"You go ahead, but Asuna and I are going to log out ASAP!" Ame countered.

Tramp grumbled in response, but he didn't break out of their tiny formation.

His habitual banter, teasing and showing off had been toned down significantly for the past few days since Ame had joined them. Asuna couldn't tell whether that was because he still couldn't get over the fact that she won against him in a duel or he was just upset that unlike Asuna, Ame always found a way to turn his words against him. Perhaps the girls had bruised his pride a little too much.

Whichever it was, Asuna decided that it wasn't her job to pry. Catching a small sign down in one of the empty streets with a corner of her eyes, she said, "Over there."

Ame and Tramp looked to where she was pointing, then Ame nodded.

"That looks good. Come on, let's go!"

She dived first, followed by Asuna in a matter of a minute. Tramp landed beside them just as Ame finished ordering three rooms for the night.

"Twenty-two, twenty-three and twenty-five," she said. Then she winked at Tramp. "You get the twenty-five."

He grumbled something as he accepted the virtual reality version of a key, then followed the girls as they went upstairs. Most of the time he spent gibbering incoherently so neither Asuna nor Ame paid much attention to his mumblings. He walked into his room first with a sullen 'see you tomorrow'.

"Is something the matter with him?" Asuna asked as she just barely opened the door of her room. "He… he's been acting a bit strange whole day."

"I think he is starting to understand that you only have the eyes for that mysterious boy waiting for you in Arun," Ame said jokingly.

"EH? Well, ye—err, I mean no! I'm not going to act like a love-struck idiot!" Asuna instantly protested with a blush.

"Whoever said anything about that?" Ame asked. "Anyway, I think it's a good thing. It's deflating his ego for quite a large amount. He might actually stop being a pain in the ass by tomorrow."

"Isn't that a bit mean?" Asuna asked. "He… he has his moments, yes, but nothing that warrants you being so mean to him."

Ame sighed and closed the door of her room, then gestured Asuna that they should walk into hers rather than stand in a corridor. At first, Asuna wanted to object, but then it occurred to her that talking behind the closed door might be better.

As Ame walked inside, she shut the door behind them and looked at her expectantly. "Well?"

"You know he's got a crush on you, right?" she asked bluntly.

Asuna spluttered for a few seconds, but Ame raised her hand to gesture her to stop.

"I didn't figure him out at first. I was sure he was in high school, but hearing from you when he logged in yesterday makes it clear. He's _fourteen_ and he's got an ego size of a skyscraper. I think you can see that this can't possibly end well."

As uncomfortable as she felt at that moment, Asuna nodded in agreement.

"I think that you're doing well, giving him the cold shoulder for now, since he's a bit of a brat, but I also think he's got it in his head that you might want to make a distinction between the real and the virtual life, if you get what I mean. Now, I can't say for sure, but you have to be at least seventeen or eighteen, so I think you can understand when I tell you that we need to keep up with this, kicking him down when his head goes too high. Agree with him once and it'll be like you gave him a go ahead. I'll be honest with you. He's a sweet kid with how worried he gets over silly things, but also a colossal pain to deal with most of the time."

"I… see… but isn't calling him a kid a bit too much? You can't be much older than him."

At that, Ame pouted. "Well I _might _be a year older, but in maturity terms, that difference feels like seven years!"

Asuna giggled, but before she could tease Ame on her word choice, the girl started talking again.

"On a completely unrelated subject, who is this guy you're meeting with, eh? I figured it can't be anyone from RL if you're in so much of a hurry, but it's somebody important, no?"

"Well, yes… umm… I wonder, shouldn't you log out? You have school early in the morning."

"And you don't? And why are you changing the subject now that we came to an interesting part, you're no fun!"

"I-I was going as well!" Asuna said quickly. "I don't have to get up in early in the morning, but I shouldn't stick around for too long!"

"You're such a spoilsport," Ame laughed then looked towards their goal resting far in the distance. "Hmm… I wonder, do you think that we can reach the top of the World Tree one day? It would be awesome, the three of us to get up there and grant the ability of Unlimited Flight to the rest of the Undines. We'd be heroes!"

Asuna smiled a little at the thought, but her own feelings were quite a bit different. "I guess I wouldn't mind giving it a try," she said. "Oh, right, that reminds me. Ame, do you know who is the producer of this game?"

Ame gave her a strange look. "It's RECTO Progress, I think. Buy why is that important now?"

While cold chills might as well have gone down Asuna's spine, she shook her head and turned her ace away before Ame could see how the news took her by surprise. "It's nothing… just curious. Anyway, you said three of us would beat the World Tree, eheheh? I thought you wouldn't like Tramp coming along."

At that Ame burst out in high-pitched and completely exhilarated laughter before resting her hands on Asuna's shoulders. "I love that kid! I told you, he's a sweetie and all that and he's got a good sense of humor. He might be a pain, but that isn't enough for me to shun him. Besides, the three of us, aren't we a team? If we're going to do something, we're doing it together."

This time, Asuna's smile was relieved, unnerved and entirely honest, pushing her current worries in the back of her mind. She may not have partied up with Ame and Tramp in the formal sense, but she felt that she'd been lucky when she met the two of them. Without them, she certainly would have reached the World Tree by now, but right now she felt that a little bit of a delay was not such a bad thing at all.

"Yep," she agreed, unable to deny anything to those large blue eyes gleaming in excitement. Ame nodded in acceptance and released the hold on Asuna's shoulders.

"Well then, I'll be logging out. Are you going?" Ame asked.

"Not yet. I… I'd like to see what this town has to offer. Knowing the two of you, I won't get to sightsee much tomorrow," Asuna joked.

"Hardcore," Ame laughed. "Don't stay for too long. Good night and see you tomorrow."

Asuna waved as she left the room, then sat down on her bed and looked through the window. She almost sent a quick message to Kirito, but she decided against it as she didn't want to risk waking him up. Knowing him, he'd be taking any possible moment to sleep and one in the morning was certainly the time he'd be sleeping.

Unlike the bed back in their house on the twenty-second floor in Aincrad, this one felt neither comfortable nor welcoming. Instead, it was hard and cold as if to make it clear that its intended use wasn't for the sake of players resting, rather a brief stop for them before they logged out of the game – something Asuna was unable to do.

From where she sat down, Asuna allowed herself to fall back on the bed. It was narrow so her head ended up hanging from the other side, but her thoughts were too scattered and messed up for her care at the moment.

_Mother… father… onii-chan…_

How long had it been since she'd thought of them? She remembered the first few weeks she'd spent crying in an inn all on her own. Back then she'd been convinced that she was going to die and didn't want to go out at all. One of the reasons she broke out of that shell was when she started thinking about how her family might be feeling, she realized that she couldn't just sit behind and do nothing. But gradually, the more time passed in Aincrad, the less time she spent thinking about them and wondering how they were doing.

It's been two years. Were they still alive?

If Asuna had learned anything during SAO, it was that a life could end in the blink of an eye. Did that mean that something could have happened to her family without her knowing?

_No, impossible. _

RECTO Progress Inc. owned the rights to ALO, which meant that at least somebody she knew was still at the large. It only contributed to her determination to meet with Kirito and find a way to contact the Game Master. If they learned of her identity, they would have no other choice but to release them if they were indeed trapped on purpose, or help them get free if they weren't. There was a help icon that would have allowed her to do it by now, but Asuna didn't want to try it out yet. She'd waited for two years, she could wait another several days if it meant that she was going to get out of this together with Kirito, as she never would be able to leave without him.

And then… then perhaps, when this was all over, she could return to ALO as a real player, not just a soul trapped inside.

_That… doesn't sound too bad,_ she thought as her thoughts started getting muddled and confusing. Before long, her thoughts drifted away and she fell into a light sleep.

* * *

Asuna woke up at the sound of loud knocking on her door.

She felt stiff and awkward in the position she'd fallen asleep in and it took effort on her part to move and get up. The clothes on her was still the same outfit she'd worn the previous day, making her grumble while she yawned.

She didn't feel as though she'd gotten much rest. She'd woken up dozens of times and several times she could only blame the time difference in Alfheim. It was disorienting for anyone spending longer than several hours there.

Somebody knocked again.

"Who is it?" she shouted without opening the door, but no response came. She remembered that nobody would be able to hear anything unless if they had a high eavesdropping skill so she walked to the door and opened them wide.

That was when she remembered that she probably shouldn't have done that.

In front of her was Tramp, looking as though he wasn't expecting to see anyone present. She vaguely wondered how long she'd been sleeping, but figured she could look at the clock later.

That was when Tramp started laughing.

"What? What's so funny?" Asuna asked defensively.

"You look like you just woke up, that's what!" Tramp said in between laughs.

"So what if I did?"

"Nothing, nothing. I just never though you'd be the sleepy head. Don't you have school or something? I know I got lucky today, but I'm starting to think that you don't even bother going."

"That's not quite true," Asuna mumbled with a pout.

"Anyway, come on. Ame is already downstairs. She was sure that you'd be logged in long before us, but I don't think either of us was expecting this."

Asuna wanted to ask what that was supposed to mean, but as she followed him down to a restaurant, something struck her as odd. She opened her status window and searched for the clock.

15:23, the real world clock said.

Asuna's jaw dropped. Just how long had she been sleeping?

"Are you all right?" Tramp asked, but she shook her head quickly.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. I just… forgot what time it is."

Tramp said something, but at that point she was no longer paying attention. Ame was sitting at a table with three cups of drinks ordered and waved them over to come sit with her. She was alone, meaning that her friends either haven't arrived yet or had already left.

"Oh, there you are," she grinned. "Come on, I ordered the drinks for all. That friend of mine should be—" she turned towards the door, pausing momentarily. Then she gestured towards the entrance to the restaurant where several Sylphs and a single Puca just walked in. She laughed, "—right there."

Asuna and Tramp joined her at the table and Ame stood up, waving towards the Sylphs. "Hey, over here! Recon!"

The shortest boy in the group, a green-haired Sylph, noticed her and waved back, then called the rest of his party members to follow him. Not everyone looked pleased and Asuna could see that Ame knew it as well.

"They're on some sort of a quest here," she explained. "I'm not sure what it's about, but they won't be staying for long."

That was when the Sylph boy ran towards them and stopped right by the table.

"Wow, R—err, Ame-chan! There's no way I would have recognized you."

"I could say the same for you," Ame laughed. "You still look like a wimp, though."

The Puca girl and two of the Sylphs laughed while the last one only sniggered quietly, then looked around.

"You're still as mean as ever," the Sylph boy, Recon according to what Ame said, pouted.

"Calm down, I don't mean that seriously. Well, sit down. These two are Asuna and Tramp. They're the last group I've partied with."

"Oh, right, I forgot," Recon nodded quickly, then gestured at the blond Sylph standing beside him who'd only sniggered when Ame teased him. "This is Leafa-chan. Behind her is Sakuya-san, and those are Sigurd-san and Rose-san." He gestured at each of them respectively, the final member introduced being the pink-haired Puca girl.

Tramp smirked while looking at her, then mockingly said, "Rose, eh? Sweet name for a Puca."

She regarded him shortly before saying, "Better than yours, anyway, _Tramp._ How old were you when you came up with it? Ten?"

"No, I—"

"You must've just finished watching the cartoon. _Lady and the Tramp_, wasn't that the name? Seriously, grow up."

"Hey, that's not—"

Asuna tuned out Tramp's spluttering in order to focus on the rest of the Sylphs present. That man, Sigurd, seemed to be one of the least willing to stick around, as he kept looking back towards the entrance like he was expecting for somebody to follow him in.

"Are you perhaps in a hurry?" she asked to Sakuya who glanced at Sigurd at that moment.

She turned to look at Asuna quickly, then dismissed that notion with a hand wave and a lazy grin. "Not at all. We heard about this quest around here, they say it's a pretty good one, so we came to see if we can complete it. You wouldn't happen to know where exactly we can find it, would you?"

"Sorry," Asuna said. "We just got here last night, so we didn't have a chance to look around."

"Never mind, then," Sakuya said easily. "Hey Sigurd, Rose, would you like to come with me to look around? Let the kids have their fun while we're at it?"

The blond girl, Leafa, was the first to protest. "But—"

"Don't worry, Leafa-chan. We aren't going to do anything without the two of you present, so leave the boring task to us," Sakuya said with a wink.

She hesitated, then sat back down reluctantly. "I suppose…"

"Let's go then," Sakuya said to Sigurd and Rose. "Don't take too long, kids." She waved at them casually before walking outside and Sigurd and Rose followed.

Immediately, Tramp turned to Leafa. "How strong is she?"

The girl blinked. "What…? Who?"

"That damn Puca! I want to challenge her to a duel right now!"

"Oy, oy, calm down," Ame laughed. "You can't challenge everyone to a duel as soon as they prove they're smarter than you."

Asuna, who didn't know exactly what that was about and wasn't interested to learn, turned to the Sylph girl who seemed to be trying to make her existence as less noticeable as possible. She drew in a corner and quietly sipped her drink, only occasionally looking over where Recon was trying to stop Ame and Tramp from bickering and failing. Asuna left her seat which was at the end of the table, beside Tramp, and moved to sit right across the Sylph girl by the wall.

"You don't seem to be in very high spirits," she noticed.

Leafa looked up from her drink as though honestly surprised Asuna was talking to her. She shook her head and took a deep breath.

"Don't mind me. I just really can't get into it for the past few days. It's nothing important."

But Asuna then understood what drove her to start talking to this girl. The expression on her face was the same as Asuna's when she let the excitement die down and Tramp and Ame weren't around to see her. She was troubled by something not game-related and despite the Virtual Reality surrounding her, she couldn't seem to get it off her mind.

Asuna could understand it. This girl wasn't like her. If she was coming to play VRMMOs, it was because the game was a way for her to pass time and disconnect from all the troubles waiting for her back home. But unlike others, even in the virtual reality, they were still of great importance and whatever the reason, she couldn't get them off her mind.

Or at least that was what Asuna thought by the look of her. The expression on her face was something she'd gotten used to seeing back on the lower floors in SAO, only for entirely different reasons.

"It sure looks like it's important," she said softly. "Otherwise, would you really be letting it affect you so much in-game?"

Leafa smiled at that, but it was not a cheerful smile. "I suppose you're right. It's… I'm just worried about some things that I can't do anything about. That's it. Nothing… nothing worth fretting about."

"Well, if you insist," Asuna said. "So, how long has Leafa-chan been playing ALO?"

She seemed a bit startled at the subject change, but replied without faltering, "A few months. I started playing solely because you could fly in this game. Before that, I've never… never been an MMO fan."

"I can see why that would grab your attention," Asuna chuckled. "But that's still a whole lot longer than I…"

"Oh, so you joined recently?"

"A few days ago, actually."

"And you already got this far? You're good."

"Ah, thanks…"

"Hey, I was wondering…"

"Yes?"

Leafa shook her head. "Never mind. It was a silly thing." Then she said a bit more cheerfully, "I remember being a complete novice when I started out. I didn't even know what I was supposed to do."

Asuna vaguely remembered her first day in SAO and nodded in sympathy. "I… I understand where you're coming from. The first time I logged in, I was the same. I asked my brother to use his console, since he had some business to attend… well, my life changed after that. A lot more than you can imagine."

"I could say the same thing," Leafa chuckled for a moment, but then stopped, as if that reminded her of what was bothering her. Asuna wanted to ask if she was fine, but Tramp then grabbed both her and Ame by the elbow and started dragging them out.

"H-hey!" she squeaked in protest.

"Let us go! What're you doing?!" Ame whined.

"We're leaving! I'm _so_ getting her back for that!"

"What is he talking about?" Asuna asked to Ame, but the other girl shook her head.

"I've _no_ idea," Ame said in exasperation. "Let's humor him for now. He actually looks serious for once." Then she turned to the Sylphs. "Bye, Recon! Nice meeting you, Leafa!"

Asuna reluctantly agreed then looked back with an awkward smile towards Leafa and Recon and waved.

"Looks like we have to go!"

Leafa jumped on her feet in surprise. "Eh? But where are you—?"

"To the World Tree!" Ame exclaimed cheerfully. Asuna swatted her shoulder with her free hand to which the other girl giggled. "Well, after Tramp is done with whatever's buzzing in his head now!"

Leafa and Recon looked at her dryly, obviously not taking her words seriously.

An idea occurred to Asuna and before she got completely dragged out of the restaurant, she opened the menu and quickly clicked in it several times. She sighed in relief when a message window popped up a few moments later, saying «Leafa accepted your friend invitation!»

She grinned at the Sylph girl standing at the other side still looking surprised, before she got pulled away by both Tramp and Ame.

"So, what is going on?" she asked them as Tramp lead them down the now busy streets of Everglade with a determined look on his face.

"Tramp is upset," Ame replied.

"Well, I can see that. Would any of you tell me why?

"No idea in the slightest."

"Tramp?"

"I know what quest they're doing," he replied shortly.

Ame and Asuna exchanged a look.

"What does that have to do with us?" Ame asked curiously.

"…We're gonna beat them to it."

At that, both girls simultaneously stopped walking.

Asuna looked at Ame in surprise, not having expected her to do it, but she just tilted her head towards their compation. Tramp turned to look at them once he'd walked ten meters ahead and realized they were no longer beside him and listening.

"Aw, come on! We'll earn lots and lots of money and get some pretty cool items and equipment!"

Ame looked at Asuna and said honestly, "I'm tempted…"

"No."

"Please, Asuna. We can turn it into a friendly match of abilities. With you as our wildcard, they don't stand a chance no matter how strong they are!" Tramp whined as he walked back to them.

"No," Asuna said. "That quest is the reason they came so far. We're not going to try to get in their way just because you're upset with Rose-san. Ame-chan is with me, aren't you?"

She leveled Ame with a glare and Ame bit her lip.

"Well, when you put it that way, it would be pretty mean of us," she replied hesitantly.

"You two are no fun," Tramp whined.

"Look at it this way, if you already lost to that girl in a clash of wits, the only way you can win is the same way you lost. Otherwise you'll really be just a sore loser," Ame reasoned.

Tramp crossed his arms over his chest. "Well, I'm not going back to talk to those Sylphs."

"Then we move on to the Rainbow Valley," Asuna said simply.

For a moment, Tramp looked like a kid whose candy was taken, but he nodded. "Fine… But I'm challenging that guy for a duel as soon as I see him."

Asuna blinked in surprise and looked at him with wide eyes. "You mean Kirito-kun?

"I need to take my frustration out on somebody," Tramp replied as though that was supposed to justify him. "Ame would never heal me again if I tried it on her and you'd beat me up with no trouble."

"I'd warn you not to do that, normally," Asuna said, but then quickly changed her choice of words. "Well, do as you like. But I'm warning you right now, Kirito-kun is better than I am."

"All right! A challenge!" Tramp exclaimed stubbornly, lifting his fist high in the air.

Ame pulled him by the ear and he shouted in protest, but she ignored him and materialized her wings, then told Asuna, "That idiot. Let's just go or I'll be tempted to beat him up right away."

Asuna wholeheartedly agreed. Somewhere inside, though, she felt a bit regretful for not getting an opportunity to explore the town a bit more. She took off in the air a minute or so after Ame and looked towards her goal that towered straight ahead of them.

Later, she decided. There will be time for exploring later.


	9. Chapter IX

_Cause nobody wants to be the last one there  
Cause everyone wants to feel like someone cares  
Someone to love with my life in their hands  
There's gotta be somebody for me like that  
Cause nobody wants to do it on their own  
And everyone wants to know they're not alone  
There's somebody else that feels the same somewhere  
There's gotta be somebody for me out there_

—_**Nickleback – Gotta Be Somebody**_

**Link to Reality**

Chapter IX

_November 13__th_

Sleep was something that Kirito had learned how to appreciate in Aincrad. Every moment that could be wasted on something meaningless would better be spent on sleeping instead; that was what he believed.

On a related note, not everyone seemed to agree with that.

Ichigo for one couldn't stand his habit of lying down to take a nap whenever his wings got exhausted. At first she'd reasoned that if he was already in a hurry that they should keep on moving, but the truth was, she just couldn't find anything to interest her while they were resting. Some times she'd just log out while others, she whined about about Kirito and Sang's – who turned out to be supporting Kirito's idea entirely – napping.

This particular case was one of the former ones, in which Ichigo would log out to get herself something to eat while Sang and Kirito stayed behind to nap. When she returned, though, that meant the nap time was over.

Nobody could wake others quite so cruelly like Ichigo.

In Kirito's case, she'd either pull him by the ear or step on his foot while in Sang's case, she'd grab him by the tail and pull until one of his eyes cracked open. Then she'd step on it.

Nevertheless, it was an effective way of waking them up despite her complaining that it would be much better if she had a bottle of ice-cold water and if the AmuSphere could transfer the feeling of cold as well as real skin could.

Kirito felt grateful that wasn't case as he felt his ear being pulled until he was forced to stand on his feet.

"You could stop doing that. I was awake," he complained as she let go of him and moved onto Sang.

"No way, it's too much fun," she said as Sang squeaked.

"Ow! Ow, ow, ow! Next time you'll be on the receiving end!" he whined.

"Stop being a brat, it doesn't even hurt."

"It doesn't mean it's not uncomfortable! Anyway, I got a message from Amber. She and Gill managed to reach the corridor already so it would be better for the two of you to get a move on. And you," she turned to Kirito sharply. "I mobilized my entire guild to get you to Arun. Be sure that you won't be getting away without paying for this, big time."

"I appreciate it," Kirito told her honestly.

"You'd better. Now let's get going."

Without waiting for them, she launched into the air and soon disappeared from their sight.

Kirito looked over to Sang, who yawned.

"Well, let's go. She won't be waiting for us."

Kirito nodded and took off. They caught up with Ichigo in about a minute and he asked her, "How much further till we reach that corridor?"

"An hour? Two? Depending on how slow the two of you are, it might even be that long."

"So then you wouldn't mind it if we went faster, right?"

"Of course not. We're only this slow because you complained about bad landings."

"Oh… Sorry about that. I've improved now."

"I call for a race!" Sang quipped.

The three of them exchanged looks. One thing all three of them had in common was their competitive nature. Kirito learned about that from Sang's constant ramblings on Flaming Wolves' adventures and the reasons they got in most of the trouble they did. Apparently, all five members have been denounced as renegades from their territories for one reason or another, meaning that even in their hometowns they could be harmed if the race's leader demanded so. And in the neutral territories, it would be hard to find anyone who isn't either incredibly good player or a renegade.

Of course, that meant that the number of conflicts that the guild had a habit of getting involved in numbered five per week, according to Sang's analysis, excluding the challenges, whatever that meant. Kirito wanted to ask about it, but so far he'd never gotten a good enough opportunity.

Actually, Sang complained about their conflicts this week being several times easier than the last week, to which Kirito wasn't sure Ichigo agreed. At least the glare she sent in his direction was the only hint he got.

Ultimately, Sang suggesting a race was something universally agreed upon as a good way of passing time.

"Ready," he said with a confident smirk.

"Set," Ichigo mumbled.

"GO!"

Kirito's eyes narrowed as he tried his best to utilize the movements of his wings so that his speed would increase. The limit was there, but he was certain that it was set higher the higher ones stats were, which in his case was a pretty good advantage. Ichigo and Sang didn't have a clue as to how good.

The time it took them to reach the Scarlet Corridor, as it was named, was just about equal with the time it took their wings to lose their glow. Having been the first to take off, Ichigo inevitably lost the race.

On the other hand, Kirito almost did as well. Sang never seemed as much of a fighter, but he'd never seen anyone going that fast in his life.

As they had been forced the land, the Cait Sith grinned and raised his hand high in the air.

"Great race!"

Kirito nodded in agreement, but Sang wasn't satisfied with that. "Would it kill you to do me a high-five?"

"Oh… right. Sorry."

Ichigo joined them several moments later and Sang turned to her immediately.

"You mentioned something about Amber and Gill already being there? How did they manage? They had to have headed—oh, right. I forgot. Amber ain't working on Wednesday and Gill's still stuck with a cold. Man, we had an advantage, yet we lost. No fair…"

"That's the gist of it," Ichigo said.

"So where are we meeting them?" Kirito asked.

"There's a town underground," she explained, gesturing towards the large hole craved in a mountain. "We should get going. You guys can't fly there, but I can."

"Wha? How come?"

She smirked. "I'm an Imp, that's why. We can fly even if there's no sun or moon, suckers."

"Well, your flight engine is as dead as ours at the moment," Sang replied, sounding a little dejected, then opened the map. "Come on, Amber and Gill are that way." He gestured towards the dark hole.

Kirito and Ichigo followed him through the last of the grass fields and into the scarcely lit corridor. The arc was wide enough to fit several trucks and tall enough so an entire building of four floors could be built inside. They could see crimson lights coming from somewhere deeper within and Sang led them straight towards it without hesitating.

"Is that why it's called Scarlet Corridor? The light?" Kirito asked as they reached the source of the light; the crimson torches bathing the dark space in red light in a way that Kirito couldn't help but think of as spooky.

"Pretty much," Ichigo confirmed. "I heard there are twenty NPCs in existence solely to take care of it. I think it'd be a waste of NPCs if it were true, though."

"It's not like they don't get their wages and pensions," Sang joked.

"Anyway, I've only been here once, but I'm not impressed. Rudger Corridor has it off far better than this place," Ichigo continued without any regards to Sang.

"So you've seen a lot of places."

"Everything except for Gnome territories and the north of Puca's. Undines have the best forests. Well, those that aren't covered in those tiny canals. Sylphs have the best forests. Spriggan territory is filled with ancient ruins that supposedly lead to the underground—"

"Wha—? What?" Kirito was completely unacquainted that information so he looked at Ichigo in stunned curiosity.

"I should've known you'd have no idea," she sighed. "Well, it's true. The hometown itself is more alive in the underground than above ground – that's mostly where the NPCs spawn. Are you going to tell me you didn't know that either?"

"I didn't," Kirito admitted. "But it sounds interesting. Go on."

"Well, there's isn't much I can say. The underground is also filled with NPCs granting quests. Most of those quests are hard and will grant you a lot of money. If you're lucky, you can even get a rare weapon. I heard that Salamander General, that Eugene got his sword in Jotunheimr—the underworld. That's even deeper down than the ancient ruins. You don't go there unless you're as maxed out as you can get."

"So you didn't go there?"

"Oh, I went all right. I'm not making that mistake again."

"Is it scary?"

"More like impossible," Sang interjected. "I remember that. Todoh wasn't with us yet, so it was just the four of us. We lasted for two hours – that was how long it took us to find a monster to fight."

"It ended in a… well, bloodbath would be pretty harsh as there wasn't any blood spilled, but you get what I mean," Ichigo said. "Ten minutes was how long we lasted even with Amber reviving Gill twice."

"And me once," Sang added. "Or no, not really. She just healed me. Still, after she ran out of MP, we were done for. It was scary. One by one… we didn't stand a chance. I still wanna go back for a rematch, though."

"Keep dreaming. I ain't repeating that again," Ichigo grumbled.

"You're the boss, I guess," Sang said disappointedly.

"It sounds interesting," Kirito said. "Hm… maybe I could take a look… one day."

"I'd advise you not to, but I've seen how crazy you get when you're fighting. If you want to go, then at least don't go without somebody capable of revival magic. You're going to need it," Ichigo told him.

"Wouldn't it be cool if the whole guild went, then?" Sang asked hopefully. "As you always say, all for one and one for all!"

"Hell no."

"Hypocrite. You just told Kirito to go if he wanted to!"

"That's because I get a feeling he wouldn't listen to me if I told him not to."

"She's right," Kirito added.

"Then I'm going, too," Sang decided.

"Fine with me. Don't expect me to bail you out when you bite more than you can chew," Ichigo countered.

"Deal!" Sang exclaimed, then quickly looked down at his map. "Amber and Gill on twelve o'clock." Then he looked up and pointed ahead with his finger.

Indeed, two Leprechauns stood there, watching them from a distance. For some reason, Ichigo stopped walking and Kirito and Sang automatically stopped as well. The Leprechauns were walking towards them in a lazy stroll with Amber occasionally berating Gill for doing something not to her liking. Finally, they came to a stop several meters in front of Ichigo and Amber grinned.

"You owe me lunch," she said.

"Tomorrow, after work. We can go to that café you mentioned," Ichigo bit off.

Amber blinked and nodded. "Ye—or no, better not. You won't like it there, plus the choice of food isn't that great. How about that place right across your workplace? It's comfy, cheap and they serve the best sushi I ever tried."

"Cheap, you said? Are you kidding? You want to waste the last of my money—"

Sang pinched her, successfully interrupting her complaining. "Next time you make a bet, include all of us, why don't you?"

"It's not my fault you live fifty kilometers away," Ichigo replied. "Besides, this is between me and Amber. It's got nothing with the two of them beating us."

Amber nodded. "You were there, Sang, as a referee. Ichigo lost big time."

The Cait Sith was about to deny it, but then it seemed to hit him. "Right… your Red Hands tournament. I still say it ain't fair."

"Well I asked you to participate, didn't I?" Ichigo said.

Sang rolled his eyes, but didn't answer back.

Gill walked over to Kirito, looking him straight in the eyes with his own narrowed. Kirito made a half-step backwards, prepared to defend in case an attack came, but Gill just kept frowning.

"Che," he said finally. "I still can't believe we lost to you."

"You're saying that just because you were the first to go down," Sang replied.

"I am not!"

"Well you could challenge him to a duel if it bothers you," Ichigo said. "I'm even willing to bet you'd lose."

"Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence."

"Settle down, you brats," Amber laughed. "Come on, let's go find a pub or something. I feel stupid just standing here. We're still waiting for Todoh and he should be here… tomorrow? Maybe today if he's as fast as we were."

"He's coming from another territory entirely," Sang reminded her as the five of them started walking once again, to which she simply shrugged.

"I want a rematch," Gill mentioned suddenly with a sharp look towards Kirito.

He nodded in agreement. "I don't mind. But I'd rather not slow us down anymore. Ichigo might kill me this time."

"Damn right you are!" the girl in question exclaimed.

"So…" Kirito hesitated, not quite certain whether he wanted to know the answer. Amber had certainly piqued his curiosity when she'd mentioned it, but was still reluctant. The girls had walked ahead of them and he was lagging behind by several meters with Gill and Sang, so he figured he might as well ask away. "Do Amber and Ichigo know each other in the real world?"

"They're neighbors, I think. Or at least live nearby, I'm not sure," Sang said.

"You're not?" Gill asked in surprise.

"Well, not even I know everything," Sang replied casually.

"You don't say."

They grew silent after that and, having nothing more to ask for the moment, Kirito turned to check the stats on his sword, realizing he'd been delaying that ever since the fight the previous day. He was relieved to see that they were still pretty high, but not maxed out: 3034/3320.

Sighing, he asked, "Do you know any skilled blacksmith around here? I'll need to get my sword upgraded soon…"

"Ask Amber. She's good with that stuff, what with being a Leprechaun and all," Sang replied.

"And what? I'm rusty?" Gill snorted.

"Hey, I'm trying to help you out. I thought you hated upgrading weapons," Sang said, sounding mock-disappointed. "Anyway, like I said, Amber would probably do it no problem. Wait, I'll ask. Amber!"

"What?" she shouted back.

"Kirito's sword needs an upgrade! Wanna contribute?"

"For a price, sure!"

Sang grinned at Kirito, who honestly hadn't been expecting that turn of events. "See? Piece of cake."

"Uh, thanks," he told the Leprechaun girl. She either wasn't paying attention or simply didn't hear him, as she made no gesture to respond, preferring to continue talking to their guild leader. Kirito smiled a little, then asked, "So how much more till we reach the World Tree?"

"We can go as soon as Todoh gets here, under condition Ichigo doesn't have any other plans," Gill told him. "It won't take us longer than two hours after that."

Kirito nodded. That long he could wait without getting too impatient.

* * *

_Just a little bit further!_

Asuna smiled at the sight of Arun in the distance. Tramp was leading them towards one of the safe areas that existed somewhere beyond the Rainbow Valley, yet neither he nor Ame knew its exact location. They'd been looking for it for the past half an hour, both on foot and by flying as the two of them seemed to be in a rush to log out. Ame mentioned something about a tournament on the TV and that she didn't want to miss it and Tramp seemed equally excited about it so Asuna couldn't demand of them to keep moving towards Arun, even if it would roughly take them two, maybe three hours to reach the World Tree.

"There!" Tramp finally exclaimed, pointing at a tiny cave Asuna wouldn't have noticed.

"We could have gone through a lot less trouble if you'd just logged out anywhere," Asuna told them as they entered the cave.

It was tiny, barely enough for the three of them to huddle in for the time being, but as Asuna knew that in a few minutes she'd be alone anyway, it wasn't a big deal.

"I know," Ame said. "I understand you don't really care when it comes to it as you didn't even know about it, but I still think it's unfair on our part. You'd have to watch out for us for fifteen minutes before you'd get a chance to do whatever you wanted and you did it many times already. You deserve a break."

"Well, when you put it that way…"

"Besides, you need to practice casting spells," Ame added. "I'll see you tomorrow afternoon, then."

And she gave a small wave before logging out, her avatar scattering in shining polygons.

Asuna turned to Tramp, then, to see him looking at her strangely.

"Aren't you also going to go?" she asked.

"About that…"

Asuna cocked her head as he looked into the ground and started mumbling, "The truth is, I'm not that interested in watching the match."

"No? Didn't you say—"

"I know what I said," he said quietly. "But really, I just wanted to breathe a little. Ame is… ugh. She has it out for me for some reason. Is she angry because we left earlier than she wanted yesterday?"

Asuna blinked, not having expected that. She could have thought of many reasons for Tramp to decide to stay, but she would have placed that particular reason far at the back of the list. He just… she never thought he'd be bothered by Ame's behavior, having long since gotten used to their banters. True, she'd been a bit harsher in the last few hours, but it wasn't because of Tramp dragging them out yesterday. At least Asuna didn't think so.

But that aside, she was beginning to dislike what the two of them were doing. She should have been expecting it that she'd become closer to both of them than they would to each other, but it was beginning to put her in a position she didn't feel comfortable fulfilling.

"I… I don't think so," she said after a long pause. "But shouldn't you ask her straight about it, instead of asking me? She'd be able to tell you much better."

"Maybe," he agreed, "but I don't want to."

"I can't and I won't behave like a mediator between the two of you," Asuna told him firmly. "I understand that you just can't get along and that is fine, I'm not asking either of you to behave like you're best friends. I'm just asking not to push me so far in between that in the end, my choice will become a reason for either of you to leave."

Tramp looked at her with wide eyes. "No, that's not what I… do you really feel that way? Like we're making you choose?"

Asuna couldn't keep looking at him, preferring to look away towards the sky through the cave entrance. "Not… not often," she admitted. "I agree with Ame-chan, usually, because her ideas happen to be a bit more practical, but I wouldn't like that to as a result have you leaving. Ame-chan doesn't want it, either, no matter how she behaves."

"I doubt that."

"Don't. She actually suggested that if anyone should be the first to reach the top of World Tree, it should be the three of us. As a team."

"I bet she wasn't being serious!" Tramp exclaimed, but he sounded more surprised than upset. "Now that you mentioned it, the World Tree… we're close now. You could just go ahead on your own, no? You'd reach it in what? Two hours?"

"I won't do that," Asuna said. "I told Ame I'll wait for her, and that means I'll wait. I won't go back on my word."

"Okay, okay, I didn't mean to upset you. You must be really happy, though."

Asuna didn't immediately reply. She wasn't sure whether she was happy, to be honest. Seeing Kirito once again, the very thought made her happy, but it was what came after that worried her. Even together, would they be able to find a way out? Would they be able to learn how they ended up here in the first place? Or would they stay trapped until somebody out there decided to stop taking care of their unconscious body?

_NO! _She thought with determination. _As soon as we meet, we'll end this. One way or another._

"You certainly don't look happy," Tramp commented dryly, breaking her out of her thought.

"Eh, sorry, I just—"

"That boyfriend of yours, he ain't from RL, right? You just know him through the game?"

Again, Tramp managed to catch her off guard. Asuna didn't remember mentioning anything about Kirito being her boyfriend and Tramp never asked about it. Ame had, but even then Asuna had never gone straight out and said it.

"I guess you could put it that way," she said reluctantly. She didn't understand what he was getting at and Tramp's expression was relaxed, nothing on it to betray his inner thoughts.

"But you never met him for real?"

"I know his real name, if that's what you mean," Asuna said a bit defensively. "I… let's just say we never really got a chance to meet in real world."

"Be careful, Asuna."

"Eh?" _Be careful? What's that supposed to mean?_

"I'm sure you know that, but online relationships… That sort of thing isn't very smart if you really don't know what you're getting involved into. I have an older sister… She tried that once and it ended badly. Really badly. I just wouldn't like that to happen to you, I guess. We're friends, right?"

All of Asuna's fears and concerns melted away in an instant, then got blown away by soft breeze. The look in her eyes softened and she felt the words getting stuck in her throat as she lifted her hands to her heart. She blinked several times, then softly said, "Thank you."

Tramp jumped up as tough electrocuted and gave her a strange look.

"A-are you all right? Eh… I didn't mean anything… err… I—"

"No, really," Asuna interrupted him, nearly choking on the words. "Thank you."

She'd never felt like this before. For her whole life, she could count the number of her friends on the fingers of one hand. During her life before SAO she'd had several friends, but not a single one who she could truly confide into. Perhaps it was just her, perhaps it was just the society she'd lived in, she simply couldn't imagine just talking to them as friends. There was always something important unsaid and something relevant missing, but back then she didn't understand what.

During SAO, the first true friend she'd ever made was Lizbeth and even to this day that girl remained the only person aside from Kirito whom she could put her faith in and not get disappointed. Ame had quickly climbed up to that list as well, but still not anywhere close to Liz. She didn't even consider Tramp anything other than just an ally. Until now.

It was the first time she'd seen anyone express so much concern over something so… so unrelated to them, yet it concerned her life, especially as there was no reason for Tramp to be worried about anything at all.

He scratched the back of his head before sitting back down, awkwardly looking away from her. "Well, err, you're welcome. But take me seriously, please."

"I am," Asuna assured him. "I'd explain it to you in more detail, but I can't, not yet. I wouldn't know where to start from and it's a difficult thing to talk about. But I can assure you that there is nothing you need to worry about in that regard."

"You can't know that," Tramp pointed out, but Asuna shook her head.

"I can. And I promise to tell you everything. After we reach the World Tree, I'll explain it all. So just be patient until then, okay?"

Tramp nodded hesitantly. "I… I suppose I can do that. But you're really having me curious now. Why can't you tell me?"

"Tomorrow," Asuna promised. Then, as if to confirm it to herself, she typed a quick message and sent it to Kirito.

«Tomorrow», it said.

That single word conveyed more than Asuna could ever put in words. She wasn't ever going to admit that she'd been hoping for it, but when his reply arrived a second later, she felt significantly better and stronger. After all, his message was just the same.

«Tomorrow.»

* * *

**Author's Note**: Wow, double update! You don't have to say anything. Even I'm shocked. Looks like the heavy snow outside is doing something positive for my muse for once. I can't promise it'll happen again, but I'll try my best to get the next chapter out soon. Big thanks to everyone who have stuck with the story until now! You're all awesome!


	10. Chapter X

_So we've been outnumbered  
Raided and now cornered  
It's hard to fight when the fight ain't fair  
We're getting stronger now  
Find things they never found  
They might be bigger  
But we're faster and never scared  
You can walk away, say we don't need this  
But there's something in your eyes  
Says we can beat this_

—_**Taylor Swift, Change**_

**Link to Reality**

Chapter X

_November 14__th_

Streets of the small town inside of Scarlet Corridor, named Cresten, were mostly devoid of players. Occasional player that would go through was of either Leprechaun or Spriggan race and they didn't stick around any longer than how long it would take them to get a drink, then continue to wherever they'd headed.

It was early afternoon when Kirito found himself sitting at the top of the only church in town, its purpose only to show the time inside Alfheim. Normally he would have waited for the others in the pub from which they'd logged out, but for some reason he was feeling strangely restless. There was something unnerving about knowing that he was underground and the crimson light reminded him of things he didn't want to think about, such as the system announcement back on the first say in SAO, the battle against the seventy-fifth floor boss, subsequent duel against Heathcliff and the three blood red words that had flashed before his eyes: You are dead.

He didn't understand why he was thinking of it now.

It couldn't be just the light, but at the moment he couldn't think of any other reasons. He didn't know how long he was sitting there before somebody found him.

"And what exactly are you supposed to be doing?!"

Kirito heard the shout coming from somebody far below. At first he didn't even think it was referring to him, but he'd looked anyway. The person standing straight below couldn't be anyone else but Amber, her eyebrows raised questionably and arms resting on her hips. For some reason, she seemed to be annoyed at him.

Kirito raised his hand in greeting. "Oh, hey. When did you log in?"

"Shouldn't I be asking the same question?" she yelled. "Get down here! How did you even climb up there?! You can't use your wings here!"

"I jumped," Kirito explained.

Amber's eyes were wide and she seemed to be on the edge of shouting at him again, but for some reason she decided against it.

"You're crazy," she decided on. "Just get down here."

With nothing but a nod to agree, Kirito jumped down and in amusement watched the look on Amber's face change from panic to amazement and then finally annoyance, until she looked away from him and uttered, "Show off."

She opened her HUD and spent several seconds typing a quick message, then spoke once again, "We just heard from Todoh. He should be here soon, but he wasn't exactly precise."

"Ah, thanks for coming to tell me that," Kirito said, his tone grateful.

"What were you doing up there?" she asked as they started walking.

"Just thinking," he replied vaguely. "When did you log in?"

"Fifteen, maybe twenty minutes ago. Ichigo was getting frustrated because you weren't at the pub so I offered to look around. I never thought I'd find you up there."

"I see. Sorry for troubling you."

"It's fine," Amber said. "I wanted to talk to you anyway."

"Eh? What about?" Kirito asked in surprise.

"Your abnormal abilities, obviously," Amber snorted. "Well, never mind that now. I'm sure I'll get to see them again so I'll keep my questions to myself for now. It's not like anything you say can help me improve much. Still, I'm curious. Just how long have you been playing?"

"Not long, really. I played other MMOs so most of my experience comes from that, too," Kirito admitted.

"I suppose that makes sense," she sighed.

She stopped walking and narrowed her eyes at something ahead. When she spoke, her voice was laced with surprise and doubt. "Is that…? Impossible!"

Kirito wanted to ask what she meant, but before he could she broke into a run. He looked ahead to where she'd been looking and his own eyes opened wide.

A dragon clad in metal armor had landed just in front of the entrance to the pub where they'd been heading. There was a saddle at the part where its neck connected to the rest of the body, indicating that it was not a monster to be killed but a tamed beast. However, there was currently nobody seated there.

Surrounding it were Ichigo and the rest of the Flaming Wolves, along with two other people, one of which Kirito recognized and the other who didn't.

Without thinking, Kirito broke into a run as well. He caught up with Amber shortly before she rejoined the others.

Most of the Flaming Wolves stood there with their faces each a showing a different kind of surprise as their final member, the Gnome Todoh, walked towards them with a grin that suggested he was both embarrassed and amazed. Behind him was a short blond Cait Sith girl with a pair of eyes that seemed to be absorbing every detail around her, completely oblivious to four people looking at her with shock while she went back to pat her dragon on one of its hind legs. It had to be her dragon, as only the Cait Siths had the Beast Tamer abilities and Kirito thought he'd be aware if Sang had a dragon for a pet.

"No wonder you got here so fast."

Icihgo's voice was something in-between astonished, sarcastic and utterly amazed.

Todoh laughed awkwardly. "About that, we should get going immediately."

"You're joking, right?" Sang asked incredulously. "You show up on a freakin' flying dragon sitting behind freakin' _Alicia Rue_ and you expect us to just take it and 'get going immediately'?"

"Oh, so you know me," the Cait Sith girl asked with a grin, looking over at Sang curiously.

"I voted for you on the elections past month," he explained. "And then your predecessor proclaimed me a renegade."

"Ouch. That must've felt like a punch in the gut."

Sang shrugged, having significantly calmed down by now. "Not really. I was expecting something of the sort. Two days before that I called him a brainless jerk for pushing half his guild against our guild. I think you know how that ended."

Alicia Rue laughed heartedly. "I heard. I actually felt sorry about him for a moment. Just a moment, though."

"Anyway," Todoh cut in before the two of them could continue, "we have a problem."

"Well start talking," Ichigo ordered as she seemingly came to accept the bizarre situation.

"Eugene gathered some of his best men and is coming after us," Todoh replied. Alicia… well, I'm not sure what she'd done as she won't tell me, but he wants to take her head personally and he doesn't care what he has to go through to get it."

"That brute personally killed most of my escort," Alicia wailed. "And I didn't even do anything that scary."

"So what? You're playing chase with him?" Gill asked in disbelief.

"I'm stalling," the Cait Sith girl corrected him. "I'm heading to Sylvain, but for that I first have to break through the ring surrounding Arun. And that's exactly why I befriended your friend here," she gestured at Todoh with a teasing smile. Todoh looked away from his guild members as if that was going to save him from the upcoming lecture.

Much to his relief, Sang was the first to speak up.

"She hired you for protection?"

He grimaced, then explained, "More like dragged me in against my will, but at least I got a speedy transportation. Still, the Salamanders are coming after me too, now, so we need to move. They know what guild I'm in."

Ichigo palmed her face in frustration. "Just a few days after we beat them up, too… I was hoping they'd leave us alone."

"That's part of why they're coming with all they've got. They think Alicia is under our protection."

"Which she isn't," Amber was quick to point out.

"I wasn't counting on that, if that's what you're worried about," Alicia articulated, but then also added honestly, "But it would be of much help if you helped me distract them. Or just face them head on. Or… well, you don't have do anything if you don't like. It's your call."

Her brown eyes clashed with Ichigo's purple and the latter girl nodded.

"We'll have to face them sooner or later, so fine. We get out of the corridor and set an ambush. Kirito and I go against them head on. Todoh is with Alicia, Gill and Sang are looking after Amber, who's the backup healer."

"That won't work," Todoh was quick to object. "Eugene is going directly after Alicia and neither of us can currently stand up to him. Also, they have several mages so we need somebody who can take care of that. So Ichigo should be with Alicia against Eugene, Sang is taking care of the mages, Gill is guarding Amber and Kirito and I are going head on against the rest of them."

"You can come up with a plan later. They were on our tail when we entered the corridor, so they can't be far behind now and my little pet needs his rest," Alicia reminded them.

"Let's go," Ichigo commanded, but she didn't look pleased at all. She looked over to the Cait Sith girl and said in a dangerous voice, "You owe me for this, Alicia."

"Whatever you want, sweetie. Except for information, of course."

Ichigo rolled her eyes at that, but gestured at the others to follow. Kirito had been expecting some sort of objection from either Amber or Gill as they seemed to be the most uncomfortable with the plan, but neither of them said anything. The seven of them sprinted through the town and towards where the continuation of the corridor that was supposed to take them through the ring and to Arun.

While running, Kirito approached Alicia and asked something that had been bugging him for the past few minutes.

"If we leave now, doesn't that put your dragon in danger?"

She frowned at that, then answered firmly, "He won't dare. He better not."

"What did you do to upset him, anyway?" Amber asked. "I heard he's got a bad temper, but this is too much."

"Nothing that warrants a hunt for my head, I assure you," Alicia said with a grimace.

"Certainly doesn't seem that way to me," Amber muttered, but then she appeared to think of something. "Oh, Ichigo, I know this might be a bad time, but I have an idea how we can conquer the World Tree! Remind me to tell you later."

"You can tell me about it after we get out of this alive!" Ichigo snapped.

"_IF_ we get out of this alive," Sang corrected. "I heard Eugene's pretty damn scary!"

"And he's got about twenty soldiers with him," Todoh supplied.

"_Twenty_?!"

"We dispatched about fifteen of them, so yeah, twenty should be it," Alicia confirmed.

"Just what the hell did you do?" Ichigo screamed at her.

"Nothing!" she replied with a pout. "At least I didn't think it was going to piss him off this much."

"Better not tell me at all," Ichigo decided. "This way I can at least hope it wasn't something utterly dreadful."

"Suit yourself."

They reached the exit in a matter of minutes, the corridor opening into a wide clearing covered in grass. Straight ahead lay the World Tree, appearing greater and larger than ever.

Sometime during the run, Kirito received a message from Asuna saying she'd reached Arun, but at this rate, he wasn't sure how long it might take him. His reply was short and to the point: «About to fight Salamanders. At least another two hours before I can get there.» Then he dismissed it and looked towards Todoh who tried coming up with some kind of a plan, but he continued complaining there was nothing to cover them anywhere close.

"So what do we do?" Amber asked. "Seven of us against twenty of them is suicide. We might be good, and I mean very good, but Eugene is one of the legends."

"Todoh, do you think there's any chance you can handle a head on attack by yourself?" Ichigo asked while frowning in thought. "I don't know how well I can fare against Eugene, but if Kirito works with me it might actually work. He's the priority number one we have to take care of."

"But, Ichigo—"

"I know what I'm saying," she determined. "Kirito is good enough—"

"The mages are the problem," Todoh insisted. "Taking care of Eugene is the priority, but there are three mages present and they'll be covering him. Kirito is good, I've seen it, so he has to go head on to keep the others busy. That way Sang gets an opening to go against the mages and you should be able to handle Eugene for a short while."

"I won't have anyone dying today and what you're suggesting is basically killing Sang!" Ichigo snapped.

"That's what I'm here for," Amber interjected. "I agree with Todoh's plan. But I don't think we have much time."

"We wasted too long on arguing," Ichigo said, then cursed. She materialized her weapon and turned to the corridor. They couldn't see anyone yet, but the noise that reached them was the clear sound of many people running.

"Crap, no time to get in positions," Todoh groaned. "Forget it! Gill, you and I have to keep them away from Amber. The others do whatever the hell you can!"

Kirito too had his weapon drawn and when Todoh shouted that, he relaxed. Going along with team plans was something he'd learned how to do during all the battles against the floor bosses in Aincrad, but fighting came much easier to him when he had a clean slate to do what came easiest in a particular moment.

"How did they catch up that fast?" Amber asked, but nobody bothered with responding.

Kirito settled into a stance from which he'd have the best mobility while they waited for the Salamanders to exit the corridor.

They didn't wait long.

"Charge!"

The order came from a tall Salamander at the front who had his sword directed straight at Alicia, as if he'd instinctively knows where she was. It was the kind of sword that attracted attention simply by existing and Kirito didn't need anyone to tell him that that guy was strong.

He had to hand it Alicia, however. The Cait Sith girl didn't look the least bit angry or terrified, just exasperated, as if the army general trying to kill her was simply overreacting over a minor misunderstanding. Somehow, Kirito didn't think that was the case.

The Salamanders that charged at them ahead of Eugene found their advance stopped by Todoh's timely appearance. Although he had dismissed the initial plan and basically told them to improvise, Kirito thought it was a good idea so he joined him at the front almost immediately.

Todoh's sword clashed against the Salamander's so hard that it produced sparks. Kirito, on the other hand didn't want to waste time on pointless sword-clashing.

The sword of the Salamander he singled out for that moment was a one-handed sword, very similar in design to the Anneal Blade he'd used back on the first floors in Aincrad. It was a fine sword, Kirito knew, and it had served him well, but there was one major weak point about it, one that he knew all too well. And this sword seemed to have the exact same flaw in design.

When Kirito's sword connected, the Salamander's blade got cleanly sliced in two, but it didn't end there. Kirito's outward swing continued until it got the Salamander straight on the chest armor and broke through it, taking about a quarter of his HP.

It wasn't enough to even destroy the armor, let alone defeat the Salamander, but Kirito didn't let that affect his judgment. He'd been expecting it. Using the man's current defenselessness to slash at any place that armor didn't cover assured his victory in a fairly short time and the man was swallowed up by bright red flames.

Kirito moved onto the next one without waiting for the flames to disappear. It didn't affect him, but it caused him to lose sight of Sang after the Cait Sith cleanly sliced one of the mages' necks with a dagger before another one tried to get him with a fireball.

Kirito didn't see whether the fireball connected, but he saw Sang retreating back to let Gill handle the mage and allow Amber to act.

Two down and not even two minutes passed. That was good.

Kirito's second opponent was even easier to dispatch than the first, mostly because he hadn't been expecting an attack from behind, let along from Kirito. For them, he was an unknown quantity among the Flaming Wolves and most the Salamanders instead focused on taking care of the more famous members, such as Gill and Ichigo.

That was their mistake. Kirito didn't mind exploiting it in the least.

It was after he had taken out the third Salamander that he noticed Ichigo's HP was a point away from dropping in the red zone. That stopped him for long enough that a magic attack almost got him on the shoulder, but he noticed it at the last second and evaded losing anything more than several of his Hit Points; not even one percent.

He left the mage for Sang to handle, preferring to head over and see what had Ichigo beat that hard. Several Salamanders got in his way, but their continued blocking their strikes as the sounds of battle echoed through the clearing.

All while fighting he kept his eyes on the battle going on between Ichigo and Eugene, but what he saw was something he didn't think was possible at first. After a long swing, Eugene's sword simply passed right _through _Ichigo's as if the blade wasn't even there. Ichigo was expecting it, obviously, and she retreated almost immediately as it happened, but the swing still managed to catch her upper arm and take away another five percent of her HP.

"KIRITO!"

At the call coming from behind , his head snapped to the other side where Amber had her hands full trying to defend against a Salamander with a single dagger and her HP was dropping slowly, but certainly. And behind the Salamander was a yellow Remain Light that could belong to nobody else but Sang.

Kirito didn't stop to think about what might have happened. Instead, he charged at the Salamander with a loud cry. His speed had to be at the upper limit of what the system allowed as the Salamander didn't have the time to do anything but glance towards Kirito as his sword sliced through the Salamander's waist.

Kirito pulled to a stop several meters later, unable to stop the momentum right away. He turned to look at the red flames swallowing up their opponent.

"Thanks," Amber breathed, then proceeded to chant the words of the revival magic with her hand pointed towards the tiny Remain Light.

He nodded then looked back towards Ichigo. He couldn't see well as she was standing further away, but her HP was red now and it was only thanks to Alicia's interference that Eugene's last attack didn't get her.

Todoh was trying to fight off three Salamanders at once in order to protect Amber who'd only just succeeded in reviving Sang, but two of them broke through anyway.

_I don't have the time for this!_

Kirito moved before they could have noticed him. He intercepted an attack that nearly caught Amber on the back then proceeded to attack with as much vigor as he could. His sword swings were parried at the cost of his opponent's HP, but it was taking away the precious time; the time Ichigo did not have.

Gill was having his hands full and Todoh had enough trouble trying to keep the Salamanders from attacking Amber and disoriented Sang, leaving only Alicia capable of aiding Ichigo – or was it the opposite way.

If Ichigo fell, there would be nothing to stop Eugene from getting to Alicia. As much as her interference helped Ichigo hang on for longer, Alicia on her own stood no chance against Eugene. Something reminded Kirito that it didn't matter, they wouldn't be harmed for real, nothing was going to happen even if they lost.

He ignored it.

Slicing through the Salamander who'd attempted getting Amber from behind, he signaled to Todoh that he was going. The Gnome didn't get a chance to respond, but nothing he could have said would have changed Kirito's mind about what he was going to do.

"Ichigo! Switch!" he screamed.

He wasn't sure if she understood what he meant with that, but she must have, as she took the moment that Eugene's attention was on Kirito to retreat.

Despite Kirito's hopes, Eugene's reflexes were quick enough to counter his attack.

"Alicia, get her to Amber!" he yelled when he realized how much of Ichigo's HP had really gone down. The Cait Sith nodded and grabbed the Imp girl before she could protest, choosing to attack the weaker members of Eugene's army while she fought her way towards the Leprechaun girl.

Only then did Kirito allow himself to focus on Eugene and attempt to think of a way to fight him.

"What did she bribe you with?" the Salamander General demanded as he actually managed to push Kirito back.

That question was the last thing Kirito was expecting to hear. "Um… I don't know," he replied honestly as he regained balance and charged again. "It had to have been something good for Ichigo to agree."

"I figured as much," Eugene snarled. "So are you going to move out of my way or will I have to cut you down as well?"

"… I'd prefer it if we didn't have to fight at all," Kirito said honestly.

"Tough luck, brat!"

Parrying Kirito's attack seemed to have taken little of Eugene's HP. It enraged him enough for the Salamander to put even more force in pushing Kirito backwards and, unfortunately, it succeeded.

Kirito was blasted high in the air, but his wings stopped him from flying off too far. Eugene then jumped in the air as well with an attack Kirito didn't have choice but to parry. That's when it happened.

The attack should have been stopped by Kirito's sword, but instead Eugene's passed right through it. Not sliced, not damaged at all. It just passed as if Kirito's sword wasn't even present and left a deep red trail on Kirito's chest, severely depleting his HP.

_Impossible! How did he—_

But then Kirito noticed something else. Eugene hadn't used his wings. None of the Salamanders had.

He propelled higher in the air, out of reach and surveyed the situation for a moment. Then he shouted, "Hey, Eugene!"

It was enough to draw the Salamander's attention to him rather than attack Alicia again.

"I'm sure you can see it too, now. You're outnumbered. That guy Alicia is fighting is going to lose; he's in red and she's far better than him anyway. Once he loses, it'll be seven against six with us outnumbering you. The others are fighting at the stalemate, but the only way you can win is if you personally kill all of us and by the time you might be able to do it, your whole unit will be wiped. Is killing Alicia that much worth it?"

The last sentence was obviously the clinch. Eugene looked furious, but as he took a good look he realized that everything Kirito told him right now was the truth. Decision rested on his shoulders and his shoulders only.

Kirito looked at him expectantly.

"Che," he spat at the side, then yelled, "FALL BACK!"

The Salamanders followed the command and pulled back, but not one of them lowered their weapons. The Flaming Wolves were surprised at their actions, but none of them put down their guards.

Eugene leveled Kirito with a glare, but Kirito didn't even blink, let alone flinch.

"We'll settle this another time," Eugene determined with fire in his eyes.

He then turned to look at Alicia and said, "The next time I see you, you're _dead_."

She was utterly unaffected by that threat. "Do you always have to overreact so much?"

His glare intensified, but then he turned his back on them and gestured his army to follow as he walked back towards the Crimson Corridor. As soon as the last one of them was gone, so was the tension in the air.

"Well, that went well," Kirito commented as he landed, then sheathed his sword.

"You're insane," Ichigo said while shaking her head. "I thought you were trying to commit suicide by fighting that guy. But _that_… I wasn't expecting that."

"Don't be silly, I saw what his sword could do," Kirito told her. "I would've lost if I fought him any longer. It was either me delaying him until all the other Salamanders were gone so that we could team up on him, or getting him to retreat. I'm just glad he happened to share my opinion and chose the latter."

"It ain't gonna be that easy the next time he sees you," Sang sighed. "He had you singled out. "

"What do you mean?"

Icihgo gave him a serious look. "The next time he sees you, you're dead. That's what he means. And it goes for both you and Alicia. And me, unfortunately."

Kirito looked towards the Cait Sith girl who only shrugged in response.

"I'll try to get that brute off your necks," she offered. "I have to get going anyway. My contacts are waiting for me at Sylvain and my little pet should have recovered enough by now. Make sure to send me an IM in which you define exactly what you want."

She winked at Ichigo, then walked over to Todoh and lightly clapped him on the elbow as his shoulder was far out of her reach. "It was a fun trip. Make sure to drop by Freelia sometime."

"If you promise you won't have Eugene chasing after us when I visit," Todoh agreed.

Alicia chuckled lightly. "Consider that in progress. I have to get over the phase where he can look at me without trying to kill me, after all."

"Better than nothing, I suppose."

"I'll remove you from the renegade list as soon as I get back to Freelia," she informed Sang.

"No need, I'm having just as much fun as I did back then, so it's fine," he replied.

"Not fine. I can't have somebody who voted for me on the black list," she countered, then turned to all of them. "Thanks, the lot of you. Don't hesitate to call if Eugene goes after you, or if you need help with anything else, really. I owe you for what you've done."

"Like hell you do," Ichigo bristled. "Be sure I'll be taking you up on that."

Alicia didn't seem to mind the anger in Ichigo's voice as she whistled loudly. It took several minutes, but her metal-clad dragon then showed up and she materialized her wings for long enough to fly into the seat on his neck. Then with a wave, she departed.

The total of six members of the Flaming Wolves guild stood still at the clearing until she disappeared in the distance, then Ichigo leveled Kirito with a glare.

"And by the way, thanks for that," she told him sarcastically. "_The_ strongest player in Alfheim now has it out for my guild. It would be fine if it were just me, but now it's you who's screwed as well."

"Doesn't that mean that I just have to watch out not to let Eugene see me?" Kirito asked calmly. "I think I told you, but I'm not planning on staying for too long once I reach Arun."

"Define the 'not staying for too long' part, please," she hissed.

Kirito scratched the back of his neck and raised a hand in defense. "I… I'll let you know when I get some kind of a clue."

"Well, you're not leaving until you've helped us conquer the World Tree," Amber informed him unexpectedly. "It'll take all of us if we want my plan to work."

"And what, if I dare ask, is your brilliant plan?" Ichigo asked, voice laced with frustration that should have been directed at Kirito, rather than Amber, but the Leprechaun girl didn't seem to care as she started smiling confidently.

"It's pretty simple, actually," she said. "We just fly up there."

"And the flight limit?" Gill asked. "What do you intend to do about that?"

Amber's smile only got more confident as seconds ticked away. The plan she explained then was indeed a very simple one. Kirito thought it to be pretty ingenious, too.

Ichigo, on the other hand, was completely against it. Her voice was incredulous and absolutely dejected. "Are you crazy? That will never work. Something so… so…" she seemed to be at a lack of any fitting enough word to describe it.

"Creative?" Sang supplied instead. "Because Amber's plan is the funniest thing I've heard so far that is actually good."

"No! It's stupid!" Ichigo argued.

"I say we try, it's not like there's anything we can lose," Todoh said.

"No! Are you all crazy?! It's—"

"I actually think it's pretty ingenious," Kirito said, stopping any argument Ichigo was about to dish out. "It's strange, I'll give her that, but it's not something your everyday player would come up with. Even if it doesn't get us at the top, it should get us high enough to see what's waiting for us up there, no?"

"I thought at least you had some common sense," Ichigo thundered, then shook her head as though she had finally given up entirely. "Dear god, I'm surrounded by lunatics."

"Well, you don't have to be mean about it," Amber sighed. "Just… consider it. There's still time and it's probably once-in-a-lifetime chance to do something utterly stupid with nothing bad happening afterwards."

"They could ban us for cheating," Todoh supplied, but Amber dismissed it with a hand-wave.

"No, as we're not cheating. Nothing in the rulebook said that we had to fight our way up. Even if they did, nothing stops up from creating new accounts."

"Actually, I'm pretty sure—"

"Enough!" Ichigo exclaimed. "We're not doing that, over!"

"If you insist," Amber grumbled under her breath, then looked at Kirito with an exasperated sigh. "At least somebody likes that idea."

"I'll help you out if you'd like," Kirito offered.

She smiled in appreciation. "That would be great. Thanks."

Kirito simply nodded. It was a pretty good idea and it would be too bad for it to go to waste. Not to mention that perhaps, somewhere at the top of the World Tree, lay the answers to all of his questions. To get to that, he was prepared to do many things. Supporting Amber's idea was the least he could do.

* * *

For the two hours that Asuna had spent in Arun by now, her impression of the town could be summed up in a singe word: calm.

Unlike the Undine hometown, nobody seemed to be in a hurry, nobody came and went within minutes and those who did show up out of nowhere tended to stick around for a while. Unlike Everglade, whose lights allowed not a single person look at them directly, it had a much more tamed shine to it and the players were not predominantly Undines, rather there were players of all races everywhere and were actually being civil to each other.

Every time Asuna would spot a Spriggan, defined by the dark colors they wore, she'd start getting more impatient. She could understand Kirito, in a way. If he was to get involved into a PvP conflict or any conflict in general, she knew there was no way he would back out. It wasn't that she would ask something like that from him, either. That was not to say that the waiting wasn't driving her crazy.

"I say, let's go find a café or some other nice place and I'll buy you a drink while we're waiting," Tramp offered.

"And I say that I'd like to look around a bit more," Asuna replied snappily.

"Ouch. Yes, boss," Tramp replied jokingly, but Asuna could only sigh. He'd taken to calling her that way shortly before he'd logged out the night before and Asuna wasn't sure yet if he was thinking it seriously or just doing it to mock her. Probably both.

"I wonder how this place looks at night," Ame said while gesturing at the town plaza that lay a bit further ahead. It was a round space with a single fountain at the center and several benches surrounding it, which were in turn surrounded by several mini-gardens filled with blooming flowers. Players there mostly appeared to be female alongside many NPC couples.

"An hour or so at most and you'll get to see it for yourself," Tramp laughed and dismissed it quickly, turning to Asuna. "So, how much longer we wait?"

Asuna pouted at the question, having heard it about six times already since they'd arrived. She could understand they were also getting impatient, but Tramp could try becoming a bit more tactful and less obvious about it.

"He'll be here shortly," she said, then opened the map to confirm it to herself.

Her face relaxed slightly when she noticed that his dot was on the map shown to be just a bit further away from the East gates of Arun. Not a minute later, she received a message from Kirito that said they were close.

"This way," she said, then spread her wings and launched in the air.

Flying would save her from wasting too much time on navigating through the streets of Arun and since she was high up in the air, she might even be able to spot him before he notices her, those were the thoughts that had her rushing towards the gates at the top speed.

Ame and Tramp took some time to catch up with her, but nevertheless they were right beside her when Asuna landed right outside the East gates and stopped right in front of one of the large pillars. In the distance, she thought she could see several blurry shapes approaching, but it was hard to say anything yet.

"So they're coming?" Ame asked while looking off in the distance as well.

Asuna gave a short nod. She knew that Kirito was supposed to arrive with another five players and the group that caught her eyes several moments later seemed to number exactly six members. The more they approached the city, the more she could tell about them.

There indeed were six players, but they also seemed to be planning to land too early. The Cait Sith boy was the only one not flying in a straight line, preferring to spin under, above and generally get in the ways of the Imp girl and a tall Gnome player. Beside them was a Leprechaun boy seemingly amused at observing that, occasionally throwing in a comment of his own. Flying beside the Imp girl was a Leprechaun girl engaged in a heated discussion with a Spriggan boy who seemed to be getting more exasperated the longer she talked.

Asuna's heart skipped a beat. She couldn't see him well, but it had to be him.

Then the Imp girl flew straight towards the ground and group of five players abruptly changed direction in order to keep up with her. They landed fifty, perhaps sixty meters away from the East gates and Asuna's group.

Asuna took several steps ahead and was surprised to find Ame standing on her left and Tramp on her right. She smiled at them, and quietly said, "Thank you. For everything."

"Don't be silly, we've enjoyed this just as much," Ame chuckled in response.

Then the three of them looked ahead at the approaching guild.

They walked in equal speed, steps as though carefully measured so that not one of them would go far ahead of the others. They walked with strange air surrounding them and confidence as if the world was theirs to conquer.

The Gnome and the Imp girl walked in the middle to make sure that the leadership was in their hands. Beside the Gnome was the Cait Sith boy, looking tiny compared to the tall player at his side and he seemed to be the most excited out of all. Next to him was the Leprechaun, looking from one side to the other in curiosity. The Imp girl had her eyes meet with Asuna's for a moment, as though to question what the three of them were doing in their way, but Asuna dismissed it in order to look at the Spriggan walking on her left.

It was Kirito. It had to be.

The dark hair that stood in natural spikes wasn't his, neither was the skin of a darker shade, and especially not the pair of large eyes that gave off an impression as if he was trying to think of a way to prank somebody. What gave him out, even Asuna wasn't sure, but it had to have something to do with the way he seemed to forget that he was supposed to be talking to the Leprechaun girl walking beside him as soon as he noticed Asuna.

He abruptly stopped walking and as a result of that, the rest of the group stopped as well. They regarded the three Undines with interest and confusion and the Leprechaun boy turned to ask something, but the Imp silenced him with a hand gesture.

They were standing perhaps ten meters away now and each of the groups regarded the other. Only Kirito stepped out and continued walking towards them with both his eyes open wide.

He recognized her, Asuna was sure of it. Not the very first moment he saw her and he still looked a bit uncertain, but he recognized her.

So Asuna took several steps forward as well while battling the urge inside of her to run.

He stopped walking suddenly, reaching out with his hand, fingers lingering millimeters away from her shoulder.

She smiled softly as a single tear slid down her face.

A moment later she was pulled in a kiss that she'd been waiting for and she threw her arms around his neck without regard to anything else. She could hear gasps of surprise coming from everywhere around them, but at this point she didn't care.

They separated a few moments later and Kirito's forehead slid down on her shoulder. He seemed to be muttering something she didn't understand, as he wrapped his arms around her tightly and even if she couldn't see his face at all, Asuna knew that he was crying, or at least very close to it. She could tell by the way his shoulders wouldn't stop twitching and the way he simply didn't want to let to go no matter how much time passed.

"Wait, so you're trying to say we went all this way for a girl?!" somebody – the Leprechaun boy – said incredulously. She faintly noticed Ame marching to him and elbowing him in the gut, but none of that felt important anymore.

"I'm sorry, Asuna. I'm so sorry. I failed. I failed to take you home…"

The words were so quiet that Asuna almost felt as if she'd been imagining them, but she understood. It was meant for her ears only and even if not, she doubted he would have been able to say it any louder.

"Stop that, there was no way we could have expected any of this," she whispered with yet another tear sliding down her cheek. "We're alive. We're fine. That's what matters."

"Still, I—"

"None of this was your fault, so stop being so hard on yourself," she whispered. "You… you've been letting that bother you since the beginning, no? Stop doing that. I'm fine. We're both fine."

He nodded, but didn't let go of her.

"How am I supposed to challenge him to a duel now?" she heard Tramp complaining somewhere behind them and Ame's timely reply of, "You won't." But none of that felt relevant anymore.

Then Kirito let go of her and looked straight in her eyes, his own filled with resolve and determination as he wiped away the last traces of tears.

That, Asuna assumed, was the biggest advantage of the virtual world. Because as much as you cried, as many tears you spilled over one thing or another, once you stopped, there was nothing to prove it ever happened.

"We'll end this," he said in absolutely convinced voice. "Once and for all, we'll end this. I promise."

Asuna nodded with a smile. "I promise, too. We'll find a way out. Together."

Then she glanced backwards, only just remembering that the two of them weren't really alone. It took her several seconds before she could actually come up with a proper kind of response to her befuddled friends, but there was nothing she could say other than a "Sorry", along with a sheepish and a bit embarrassed grin.

Then she gestured towards them and told Kirito "These are Ame-chan and Tramp. My trip to Arun would have been much less interesting without them."

Kirito glanced at both of them in curiosity, to which Ame responded with a greeting and a tiny wave and Tramp snorted, but nodded as a way of acknowledgment. They still looked a bit overwhelmed and that was just as much as Asuna could say about the group that had accompanied Kirito. They all seemed to be on the edge of asking various questions, the only thing stopping them being the fact that they didn't know from where to begin.

Asuna looked at Kirito expectantly, to which he only blinked several times until she sent a rather unsubtle look towards the five players behind him.

Kirito's mouth opened in surprise, then the look on his face turned goofy, which Asuna found looked strangely natural on his current face. "O… oh. Right. Sorry," he quickly said. "These are—"

"We can introduce ourselves," the Imp girl interrupted him in annoyance. Then she stepped over to Asuna and Kirito automatically moved out of her way, making Asuna wonder who she was.

She held out her hand and introduced herself, "I'm Ichigo, leader of the Flaming Wolves."

Asuna nodded and accepted the hand with a reserved smile. "My name is Asuna. Thank you for watching out for Kirito-kun. I'm sure he wouldn't have gotten far without somebody watching his back."

"H-hey, Asuna—"

"More like he watched ours in this particular case," the Leprechaun girl laughed and Kirito gave her a grateful look. "I'm Amber," she introduced herself.

"It's pleasure to meet you."

"So is this it?" Ichigo asked, looking over at Kirito with a strange look in her eyes, one that he unconsciously flinched away from.

"Eh?"

"Yeah, it wouldn't be fair if you tried to bail out now. It was only thanks to you we even got Ichigo to agree to my idea. There's no way you're getting away," Amber told him matter-of-factly.

"What? No! I'm not bailing out!" Kirito protested, automatically raising his hands in defense. "I said I'd help, it means I'll help you. I wouldn't go over my word like that."

"Good for you. She'd slice you in pieces if you did it," the Leprechaun boy informed him with a nod.

Kirito scratched the back of his head, but then he finally noticed the look Asuna was sending in his direction. Immediately, he seemed to sober up.

"I promised I'd help help Amber with her plan," he explained. "She has an idea about conquering the World Tree that might just work."

Asuna wanted to ask if that would be a waste of time, but then she noticed the look in his eyes. It surprised her at first, to see so much fire and determination present, but then she caught on to his idea. The top of the World Tree… the only place where they might be able to get any answers as to what their purpose in Alfheim was.

She nodded firmly and announced, "Well, you can count on me, too."

She then remembered the things she'd been discussing with her friends and turned to Ame and Tramp quickly. "I know I can't ask that of you, but—"

"Oh, we're so going to participate," Ame cut her off. "I wouldn't miss it for life."

Tramp nodded in agreement, too. "As much as I hate to agree with Ame of all people, she's got a point. Besides, you still owe me, no?"

With a reassured smile on her face, Asuna nodded and turned to face the two girls of the Flaming Wolves guild. "So will you accept our help?"

For a brief moment, Ichigo looked startled at the question. She hesitated before turning to Amber with a look that could almost be deemed as panicked. Then she cleared her throat and said, "You answer that!"

The Leprechaun girl flinched at the sudden command. She looked from Ichigo to Kirito helplessly, then the rest of the guild members before turning back to Asuna.

"The more the merrier, I suppose," she decided with a nervous smile.


	11. Chapter XI

"_Have you ever hoped for something? And held out for it against all the odds? Until everything you did was ridiculous?"_

― _**Ali Shaw,**__**The Girl With Glass Feet**_

**Link to Reality**

Chapter XI

_November 15__th_

The pub «Silky Pearl» in the east part of Arun was unexpectedly full. Nine players somehow managed to settle for a single table as they discussed plans and strategies which would have to be something important. Something major was about to go down and even players who weren't in on the plan could see it. Something was going to take place in Arun on that particular day and it might attract a lot of attention from both players and the Game Masters.

As Kirito sat huddled against the wall with his arm wrapped around Asuna, he thought attention was exactly what they needed.

Not according to Ichigo, though, as she was still largely against their raid on the World Tree, constantly pointing out valid reasons why the plan wasn't good and it would fail, but she got outvoted long ago. It was her and Todoh who found Amber's idea completely dumb. It was just her who didn't even want to try.

Kirito had had a lengthy conversation with Asuna after everyone had logged out the previous day. Neither of them wanted to come out and just outright tell the other players what brought them to ALfheim; Kirito because he didn't think anyone would believe them and Asuna because she didn't know how they would possibly be able to help them. That was why they had resolved that if the raid on the World Tree went successfully, they were going to tell them everything.

Amber's idea was good, but according to her plan, neither Kirito nor Asuna would get a chance to get close to the top of the World Tree. Kirito could understand where she was coming from so neither of them tried arguing, but for that reason he voted for Ichigo to be the reach the top rather than Sang, who was the smallest and would have been the one to go according to Amber's original idea. As a reason he listed because Ichigo was the leader of the guild, but that was just a part of it.

If it were Sang or anyone else, he wasn't sure whether the GM would acknowledge their effort as the guild-effort, rather than individual one. What they were doing was certain to have the GMs panicking as the game wasn't supposed to be won that way, so if it was Sang who they registered up at the top, they might not look into it deep enough. Ichigo, on the other hand, was the leader of the Flaming Wolves. Her involvement meant the whole guild would probably be involved as well and looking into the list of members would be essential. For that precise reason he'd made a request from her to let Ame, Tramp and Asuna to join the Flaming Wolves, if only for that operation. In the end, she was forced to agree because parties could be made out of seven players and it would be unfair to ignore the three Undines when they were offering help. None of it was going to be permanent, though.

When Amber initially came up with that idea, Kirito had been intending on telling Ichigo privately the reason why he wanted to get to the top personally and ask if he could count on her help with that, as Amber obviously intended for Sang to be at the top. After witnessing how conservative and resentful of the idea she was, he had to think of something else. Part of it was because he could see that she would be uncomfortable with that, very much so, but another part of it was that he was afraid. So far Ichigo had been of much help to him despite the fact she was underestimating him and he was afraid that telling her anything would create a rift he wouldn't be able to mend in the future. And that was if she believed him in the first place, which he deemed very unlikely.

So the most he could do now was put the spotlight on the entire guild and hope that the GMs would notice the irregularities of their accounts. He and Asuna would in the meantime attempt to log out every hour for the following few days and if nothing changed, if they still couldn't log out, they would contact the GM directly.

Kirito disliked that part so he was honestly hoping it didn't have to come to it. Contacting the GM might be the easiest way to get them out, but what he feared of was that might consequently remove one item inside his inventory that he didn't want to lose.

To get the irregularities cleared, most if not all of his corrupted equipment from SAO would have to be deleted and that single item might go as well. He'd made sure to save it to his NerveGear storage back during those few seconds he got, but with his transfer to ALO he had no way of knowing if it the data that got carried over might have been removed from his storage. The odds were small, so small that he considered them improbable, but he also would have thought that way if anyone had told him he'd end up trapped inside another VRMMO. Risking Yui's heart for the sake of getting out of the game faster was unacceptable.

So far Asuna supported just about all of his decisions and she understood why he'd acted the way he had until now. For that, he was eternally grateful. He feared that she might object for one reason or another, or perhaps demand something unreasonable from the Flaming Wolves such as either Kirito or her going to the top, but the most she'd done was saying that if it was for Yui's sake, she wouldn't mind staying on the sidelines for now.

He tightened his hold on her shoulder which earned him a curious look, but he just shook his head.

Public displays of affection were something he would have normally strayed away from as far as possible, but in this instance he wasn't given much choice. It was either getting huddled with Asuna or kissing the wall, so he couldn't really say he minded much. Still, occasional looks of amusement he got from Ame and Amber were starting to leave him uncomfortable, Gill's constant teasing was becoming frustrating and the strange look he kept getting from Tramp was becoming mildly alarming.

"All right!" Ichigo finally snapped and slammed her hand against the table, spilling several drinks. "Fine! I'll go first. You can stop _voting_." She sounded especially vile as she spoke the final word. She then sat back down where she was squeezed between Todoh and Sang and tried to burn a hole in the table with her eyes.

"Then it's settled," Amber said with a grin. "As I'm going right under you, you'll have to pull me up immediately."

"I still say it's not fair that we don't get to fly," Tramp grumbled and gestured at himself, Asuna and Gill.

"Well, it's your own fault because you didn't choose Extended Weight Limit as one of the skill," Sang replied matter-of-factly.

"I didn't think it'd be of much use," Tramp grumbled.

"That's your own problem," Sang replied.

"Well," Amber interjected before Tramp could answer and an argument broke out, "I'm going to take some pictures so you better make sure to smile."

_Eh? Pictures?_

Kirito's first thought was to look for an escape route, but between the wall and Asuna, he didn't have much where to go. Hiding under the table might be possible if he was quick—_FLASH!_

He blinked.

"Where did you get that?" Ame squeaked and pointed at the object very reminiscent of the digital cameras that had gone out of use years ago that Amber held in her hands.

"Oh this?" she waved with it for a moment with a grin. "I bought it from an NPC in Freelia months ago. It wasn't cheap, but it takes some pretty good snapshots."

"Oh, let me see, let me see!"

Amber complied with that request and Kirito found himself feeling strangely uncomfortable when the lens ended being pointed towards him and Asuna, even though Ame clearly wasn't intending on taking pictures, too busy giggling at the one already taken.

Still, he maneuvered himself so that he was mostly hidden behind Asuna and told her quietly, "Let me know when it's over."

"Kirito—eh?"

"Just let me know when the camera is gone."

Much to his irritation, she laughed. "You can't be serious."

"I am," he tried to say, but the camera then flashed a few more times and he dreaded what it must have caught.

"It's fine, it's not like I'm gonna put them online," Amber reassured him as he took the camera back, but Kirito still didn't want to look.

"Anyway, let's get going," Ichigo sighed. "I want to get this over with as soon as possible."

"I wonder if we'll all end up becoming Alfs. That would be awesome," Sang said giddily.

"I wouldn't dream that far," Amber said. "At this rate, we're betting it all on Ichigo, meaning the rest of our chances are pretty low. If anyone's got a problem, you better step up right now."

"Yeah, I have a problem. But I don't have much of a choice do I?" Gill grumbled.

"Me too. Flying is awesome, but I suppose I can live with the limiter," Sand said a bit disappointedly.

"I'm okay with it," Asuna said the very moment Amber tried to make an excuse.

Gradually they all agreed, making Ichigo feel even more uncomfortable about her role in their raid. She ended up convincing them to quit it and ordered them to march to the World Tree. They listened, naturally, Tramp walking all the way joking about the strange looks they got from the other players. By the time they reached one side of the trunk of the World Tree, they had a number of curious players following them.

"Right, then," Ichigo said. "Remember the plan. We're going till the moment our wings stop working. We'll probably reach the altitude limit before that, but sill. Gill, Asuna and Tramp stay down on the ground to make sure nobody dies because they're falling from such high altitude and you need to remember that that gets even more important from Sang onwards. Todoh and Kirito are our main springing boards so they should be fine, but the rest of us are going to be pretty damn defenseless."

"Leave it to us," Asuna said with enthusiasm.

"I still think at least somebody capable of revival magic should stay down," Gill grumbled.

"Then we'll be lacking fliers," Amber told him snappily. "Come on, let's get started! I can't wait to see what's up there."

Kirito stretched a little, then looked at Todoh. The Gnome nodded.

"Well then, wish us luck," he sighed. A moment later, his eyes met with Asuna's and he smiled.

"Make sure you don't slip," she said with a smirk.

"… Thanks for the vote of confidence."

He didn't mind it very much, he thought as he ended up crouching on top of Todoh's shoulders in preparation.

"Hold on tight," the Gnome warned him, to which Kirito grimaced.

"It feels so much easier said than done."

"I know."

"It seems really really stupid now," Sang agreed as he landed on Kirito's shoulders. "I can only imagine how we look to all those people watching. A tower built out of dysfunctional fairies. I bet there'll be photos and posts about this on the forums by the time we're done."

"Don't even mention it," Kirito uttered.

Sang burst into a fit of laughter, then quickly said, "Sorry, sorry." Then he groaned as Ame landed on his shoulder. "A bit softer landing next time, please."

"You're complaining already? Wait to see what happens when Ichigo and Amber join our little tower. We'll be doomed. Did you know that your flying speed drops depending on how much weight you carry?"

"Is that why I'm not at the top? Because I'm the quickest here?" Sang whined and turned to look at Amber in protest, causing for their balance to disrupt significantly. Kirito barely managed to keep himself steady.

"I think Kirito has you beat there. He can produce a sonic boom when he tries," Ichigo said dryly.

"… I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that."

Amber landed on top of Ame's shoulders and the Undine girl groaned. "Sorry for reprimanding you earlier. I see why you were complaining," she muttered to Sang. Then she groaned once again when Ichigo settled at the top.

Sang strangely remained quiet, but Kirito couldn't blame him. The weight wasn't that scary, but he would consider it strange if their flying speed ended up being the same as usual. At the side, he saw Asuna looking at them while obviously trying her best not to start outright laughing. It was pointless, as the players who have gathered to watch their take off didn't have that restraint.

"Mission start!" Ichigo exclaimed.

When Todoh launched in the air, Kirito was certain that they were doomed to fail. With six of them at the top of one other, flying straight up was nearly impossible and Kirto knew how much effort it took him to just hold on to Todoh's broad shoulders. He could only imagine how much more difficult it would be for the rest of them, seeing as the closest person to Todoh's size was Ichigo who was at the very top of their formation.

It was only thanks to Amber's use of wings to keep them balanced, as he later learned, that they managed to get as far as they did.

Kirito wasn't sure how long they were flying up, but he was more than certain that the top wasn't getting anywhere closer when Todoh started yelling.

"Kirito, your turn!"

Kirito nodded and without waiting on anything, he kicked off of Todoh's shoulders with as much strength as he could, using his wings to propel them higher.

At this point in the real world, his body would be sweating immensely, his face would be beat read and all of his muscles would be aching, but the only thing Kirito could feel was an immense force trying to push him down. Unlike the muscle pain and heat, that was something much easier to fight against.

Again, he couldn't keep a track of time. He didn't have the slightest idea how much time had elapsed since they took of when he felt his wings were about to stop responding. He wanted to push higher, but the ground down seemed so far away yet they didn't seem to approach the branches any. Lifting his head, he exclaimed, "Go, Sang!"

At the same moment his wings disappeared entirely, he was kicked on the back and instead of moving on up with the rest of them, he started falling down at immense speed and completely out of control.

"Is this how jumping from an airplane feels like?" he exclaimed, but the words were swallowed up by the wind roaring in his ears.

Nevertheless, the feeling was amazing. The ground was approaching rapidly, but he must have flown higher than intended as it still seemed to be a long way off. Making distinctions between players was finally becoming possible, too, and he recognized when a small dot got separated from all the others and took off in the air.

Not several seconds he recognized the person flying as Asuna.

Then he became aware of a major flaw in this particular part of the plan. Namely, exactly how was she going to stop him? The speed he was going at was bound to drag her down along with him even if she somehow managed to—

Something gripped his arm tightly and he in turn caught it automatically. His fall abruptly slowed down and instead of his whole body falling in a horizontal position, he was now falling feet-first at a much slower rate.

He looked up to see Asuna holding his arm with both her hands. Somehow she'd gotten so high without him noticing it at all, having been too lost thinking… thinking she couldn't do it.

Eventually he stopped falling entirely. The ground was still quite a bit away, but Asuna no longer seemed to be having trouble holding them steady. Kirito felt something painfully twisting inside of him. For a brief moment, he had actually allowed himself to doubt her and he'd been wrong. It was bothering him, but he simply couldn't pinpoint why. Was it because he'd allowed his faith in Asuna to waver, just for a moment?

He shook his head, forcing those thoughts away. He'd forgotten it for a short time, but there was a reason Asuna had been one of the clearers. There was a reason she'd been a sub-leader of the strongest guild in Aincrad, chosen by Kayaba Akihiko himself.

Asuna's smile was as unwavering as her hold on his arm.

"How did it go?" she asked.

"I'm not sure," he answered honestly. "We'll have to wait until we hear back from Ichigo or Amber."

She nodded, then started descending carefully. A minute so later his feet touched the ground just as the applause surrounded them. It startled Kirito enough for a brief moment, until Asuna sighed.

"Gill told them what we're up to right after you took off. They were strangely supportive when he took off to pick up Todoh. And now they won't stop cheering," she explained.

"So that's it," Kirito mumbled in thought. "I guess publicity could do us some good…" then he noticed the look on Asuna's face and defensively asked, "What?"

"It's strange to hear that from somebody who was hiding his face from the camera just ten minutes ago."

"You know what I mean, Asuna."

"Do I?" she asked with a smirk.

"So how did it go?" Todoh asked and Kirito turned to him in surprise, not having noticed him right away.

"Pretty good, I think," he said as he looked up. "But it's high. Even I couldn't see a thing up there."

"I don't think I'll ever take Ichigo's words for granted again," Todoh then said, sounding strangely thoughtful. Kirito looked at him in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

But Todoh just shook his head without giving a clear reason. Kirito then walked over to the giant trunk and sat down, leaning his back against it.

"You're not going to take a nap now, are you?" Asuna asked in surprise.

Before Kirito could respond, Gill exclaimed, "Sang is coming!"

Tramp nodded vigorously. "Going, going!" Then he launched into the air.

Kirito looked at Asuna questioningly. "So quickly? It couldn't have been five minutes since we landed."

"I know. But that's approximately how long it took you after Todoh landed. We don't know what it means yet, but it's like the flight limit has been reduced a lot. I can't stop wondering about it."

Kirito started thinking of that, wondering as to the reasons why it might be that way, but he couldn't come up with anything better than the GMs trying to interfere.

Sang and Tramp joined them shortly after, followed by another applause from the crowd surrounding them. However, the Cait Sith didn't appear to pay attention to it at all as he marched over straight towards Kirito and Asuna.

"That was the dumbest plan ever! EVER!"

"Wha—"

"I caught a glimpse of it, of one of the branches! Even with nine of us, there was no way we could have reached the top! We'll be lucky if Ichigo gets as far as the lowest branches! The _dumbest_ plan in the history of _ever_!"

Then he continued to stomp around in impatience.

Kirito and Asuna exchanged an equally concerned look, but at this point they both knew there wasn't much that could be done. They could only wait for the three girls to return to the ground and give their own impressions.

The time it took Gill to return with Ame was significantly longer than the time it took for Sang and Tramp, which by Kirito's analysis didn't make much sense, unless if it really was just the weight slowing them down. The Undine girl seemed to be somewhat dazed however, not even responding to Gill's taunts as she regained balance.

"Are you all right?" Asuna asked her, but Ame shook her head.

"Wow. Just wow."

"Did you make it?"

She shook her head negatively with a bit more strength. "Somebody really tried setting difficulty to 'invincible'. Let's hope Amber and Ichigo have a bit more luck, but I am _never_ doing this again."

"I guess it's a good thing we're now considered resident heroes," Kirito joked, but as Ame didn't catch on right away, he gestured at the crowd that had doubled in the past five minutes.

"Oh. I was wondering about that," she said, completely deadpan. "How much longer till Amber gets back?"

"Not long," Asuna answered as she glanced upwards. "I hope this doesn't turn out to be a waste of time."

"Me too," Ame agreed. "But it won't, at least I don't think so. The two of them should be able to handle it. I hope."

* * *

"… As you can all see for yourselves, the percent of our losses is beginning to reach dangerously close to the percent of our earnings during the last month. It would be in our best interest to permanently halt the analysis and remove the servers before the losses become even greater and—"

"Are you suggesting we should put my daughter's life at risk so that we could increase our profits? Are you suggesting we should leave three hundred lives to chance?"

"No, sir, that was not what I was insinuating! But keeping the SAO servers in existence—"

"That is _exactly_ what you were insinuating!" Yuuki Shouzou thundered as his hand collided with the desk, producing a loud, dull noise.

"Sir, you must understand, most of the players have already woken up—"

"My daughter held out for over two years! She is the _reason_ those players woke up! Say one word more about removing those servers and I swear on my life, you will never get another job! I didn't put you in that position to tell me things I already know! I put you there to find a solution to keep both the servers and profits, but if you cannot do that, you might as well leave this room immediately!"

"But, sir—"

And there they went again.

Sugou Nobuyuki exhaled as even more members of the board objected the CEO's decisions and started questioning them. It had started four days ago, when the awful truth that the SAO players whose minds were still trapped would not wake up on their own when the arguments began.

When Sugou had put his plan in motion, he had calculated this as one of the possibilities, but what he hadn't been expecting was that he would get pulled in the middle of it and be forced to attend the board meetings during which Yuuki Shouzou spent half his time yelling at the economists and middle-managers that all the SAO data they possessed was to be protected at all costs and the research was to continue until all the players have successfully woken up.

Of course, not all of them were against his orders, but those who were seemed to be getting significantly more vocal with every passing day. It was slowly getting to the point where Sugou was starting to consider even sabotaging his plan, only so that he'd stop being forced to attend those meetings.

The problems had started back when the initial decision about buying Argus' serves had been brought, but with the launch of ALfheim Online the backlash had subsided as they were actually succeeding to keep the both games running without significant losses. However, now that those greedy old bastards got their paychecks reduced for only a thousand Yen, everyone was complaining.

Sugou had to admit that under so much pressure, Yuuki Shouzou was holding out pretty well. He'd been expecting that, but naturally it felt good to see his plans going according to plan. Heavens know how much time he'd spent fretting when his initial plan of transferring Asuna's account into the account he'd specifically created for her went awry. That didn't end quite according to his intentions, but with so many meetings taking places at so short notices, he hadn't gotten much of an opportunity to do anything to fix it. Why, just two days ago he'd returned from Kyoto at an urgent notice and he was supposed to leave yet again for the sake of another meeting.

Sugou never thought that his own position would be so complicated and dull to hold until he actually started. Being the director of the research institute was not nearly as fun when he had to take parts in the exhausting board meetings, which is exactly why he felt so grateful the moment his phone started vibrating. Normally he would just ignore it, but right now it offered him a perfect opportunity to get out of that stuffy room filled with greedy bastards and the best of all was that the CEO wouldn't even give him a cross look.

"Excuse me," he uttered while one of the managers made a pause to take a breath before he continued listing his reasons why SAO research was becoming a financial black hole.

Sugou frowned as he recognized the phone number calling and wondered what could have been the reason for the call. He answered nevertheless. "Yes?"

"Sir, we've got a problem."

Oh, perfect. Yet another one. Hopefully it was something not nearly as dull as these meetings.

"What kind of a problem?" he asked.

"This is ALO-related, sir, but we can't handle it without access to the GM account."

"Well, what happened?"

"It appears a group of players tried to reach the World Tree from the outside."

"I thought you had the altitude limiter set to keep that from happening," Sugou bristled, the conversation feeling more and more pointless with every second that passed.

"That's just it, sir. They took a piggyback ride!"

"They—they _what_?"

"I'm not sure yet, I'm still trying to get a complete video feed, but to summarize, a guild consisting of three Undines, two Leprechauns, a Gnome, a Spriggan, an Imp and a Cait Sith organized themselves for six of the players to fly on top of one another and the other three to catch them so that the subsequent fall wouldn't kill their avatars. They didn't get high enough to land on the lowest branches, but I still put up a temporary barrier right at the altitude limit. You'll have to log in and make it permanent."

"Well, that's fine. You handled it, so why does this warrant a call? On this number, even," Sugou said impatiently. That particular situation was not good, not good in the least, but since it was already handled for the most part, that should be of no issue. Which only meant something else equally as serious happened.

"Sir, two of the players had accounts made for one-time testing. I ran a quick check and it turned out both the account stats were outrageously high, so I looked into it a bit deeper—"

"Skip the details," Sugou interrupted him. "Just get to the point."

"Sir, those accounts shouldn't _exist_. There should be no one who has any access to them aside from you, yet there are two of them right in the middle of the game itself!"

Sugou's eyes narrowed. "Impossible, I personally made sure—" he stopped abruptly as it hit him.

"It's them, the two players we lost when SAO got cleared," his subordinate confirmed his suspicions. "They're registered as Undine, account name: Asuna, ID number three-three-nine-seven-one-zero-zero-three and Spriggan, account name: Kirito, ID number three-three-nine-seven-one-zero-zero-four. We've failed to track them in-game because we didn't think their accounts would get registered as the tester accounts, but I've got them both tracked down and we won't lose them again. What do you want us to do, sir?"

"What do I-? Get her out of the game! I don't care what you do, but make sure Asuna is as far from the other players as possible!"

"Impossible, sir. My own account doesn't have that system access level to teleport her straight to the World Tree from the safe zone. I can do it only if she happens to leave or it would have to be you to do it."

"Do it whichever way you can," Sugou snapped while gritting his teeth. "At this rate, I'll be unable to personally log in until my trip to Kyoto is over, but I might get a chance to do something either tomorrow or on Sunday. Once you isolate Asuna, make sure you put all the possible restrictions on her account and I'll personally make sure to transfer the data to the one I have prepared. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir! But what do you want us to do about the other player?"

Sugou was about to say to transfer him to the lab with the rest of the SAO players with the first opportunity, but then something clicked. He'd been suspicious about his seeming success to capture the player who'd cleared Sword Art Online, but that name, Kirito, rang several bells. Would his luck really turn out to be so outrageously twisted?

"… See what restrictions you can place on him without hindering his in-game abilities. Or better yet, don't do anything at all. If I remember that video feed right, he won't be willing to do much without Asuna to drive him. Leave him until I get a chance to take care of it personally."

"…Aren't you afraid they've already told those other players about their peculiar circumstances, though?"

"Would anyone believe them if they had?" Sugou countered logically.

"I doubt that, but they could still use their own identities as proof, sir."

"If they hadn't done it yet, I don't see why they would now. Besides, the real names of the players have never been publically announced. Even if they decided to risk that much, what are the odds of them telling that to somebody who actually knows them?"

"Right, then. I'll take care of it as you said."

"You better," Sugou hissed as he ended the call. He'd been reckless, speaking so openly on that subject over the phone, but he'd made sure the corridor was devoid of people before starting. As he slowly walked back towards the boardroom, his mind was in frenzy.

_Asuna, Asuna, Asuna… When did you get so daring, Asuna? When did you get so smart? No, never mind. Would you have gotten this far if you had stayed the way you were before SAO? No, of course you wouldn't… but just you wait. It won't take long… it won't take long…_

* * *

**Author's Note: **To everyone who don't want to get any spoilers, no matter small and insignificant they may be, do skip this section. It's a reply to a review that piqued my interest and as the author reviewed as a guest, I don't have a better way of answering at present.

To **Writer Sage:**

I'm going to tear your review apart so I'd be able to answer it better.

"Hmm, you're story is pretty good, but Kirito seems kind of...weak.

I mean, I understood the Flaming Wolves with their magic and high level being able to bring him to a point where he would lose. Granted, I can't get myself to like them since they all act like freaking ignorant douches proclaiming to be the best, and happily cut down anyone when they want to and that stands in their way. They almost remind me of a criminal guild rather than a normal one the way they act so high and mighty. Personally, I would have ditched them."

-You have a point. When all is said and done, the Flaming Wolves are much closer to a criminal guild than a normal one. They are ignorant, over-confident and happy to cut down just about anyone standing in their way. They have it in their heads that they're some of the best players in the game and don't really care for much else. When the chips are down, how many of them do you think would answer a call for help? They're also underestimating Kirito a lot more than they should even if some of them are making him out as a good player and as a guild are very dysfunctional. Still, as individuals they might be arrogant to the point where it hurts, but that's not all there is to them. Kirito is sticking with them for the time being out of convenience, but he already hinted that he was leaving the guild after reaching his goals. Now, whether that happens or not is another matter entirely.

"But, either way, Kirito running away from a one-on-one duel with Eugene is bothering. I don't get why people tend to do that, he fought and beat Eugene in canon! Why does no one seem to want to accept that?"

-Take a look from a different perspective. In canon, the reason for Kirito's all-out fight against Eugene was because Eugene went against his 'withstand my attacks for 30 seconds and I'll believe you' statement. Kirito didn't have a choice but to fight back. On the other hand, in LtR, the circumstances are different. The fight isn't one-on-one as much as it's guild-vs-guild with Eugene's primary objective being Alicia and Kirito's ending the fight ASAP. So technically, Kirito did win in a certain way as Eugene decided that sacrificing most of his subordinates to get back at Alicia wasn't the most practical course of action. Whether Kirito would have won against Eugene if they both went all out is still up in the air, though, regardless of his current opinion.

"But, still, Kirito and Asuna should steam roll right through everyone, and hell magic isn't that big of a problem. Spells aren't instant, they actually take time, and not to mention dodging spells should be cake for them considering their speed AND reaction speed."

-Another point you got right. Except that it isn't Kirito and Asuna who have problems dealing with magic, rather the other characters who _think_ they have problems. For as far as the two of them are concerned, it wouldn't be anything special now that they've seen how it works. It's still a problem if it's coming from the back and they're busy fighting somebody else, but that is another thing and anyone would like somebody watching their back against that.

I hope that clears up a few things. I'm not trying to undermine your opinions, just clear up some things. If you don't happen to think that way, that's fine, too. It's your opinion after all and I don't have any right to force you to change it.


	12. Chapter XII

_"It is the obvious which is so difficult to see most of the time. People say 'It's as plain as the nose on your face.' But how much of the nose on your face can you see, unless someone holds a mirror up to you?" _

**_―Isaac Asimov, I, Robot_**

**Link to Reality**

Chapter XII

_November 16__th_

Klein didn't think that getting a ride in a taxi for free could ever feel so utterly unimportant. He'd always considered taking a cab a luxury he wasn't very used to, but it was also an effective way to get somewhere fairly quickly compared to switching trains all the time.

Right now, all that went right out the window, as every second it took the car to reach his destination felt hours longer than it should.

Shouta had tried when he'd seen the look on Klein's face, which must have terrified him out of his wits, but the final traffic light that stopped them just a block away from their goal had been an obstacle he couldn't simply bypass. Now every second they spent waiting for the lights to change felt like an eternity. Klein nervously tapped the floor of the car with his crutches, thinking how he could have just walked out of the car right there and sprinted instead, if only he didn't have those two stupid pieces of wood as a necessary addition.

Finally, the lights changed and the car was on the move again. Not twenty seconds later, Shouta-san pulled over right in front of a small café.

The car had barely stopped moving by the time Klein opened the back door and was scrambling out with his crutches.

"Thank you, Shouta-san!" he yelled over his shoulder in the meantime.

"You're welcome, but—"

"I'll give you a call later!"

Klein slammed the door shut and proceeded to march towards the Dicey Café as fast as his atrophied muscles would allow him.

According to the clock he noticed when he walked in, it was 12:37 PM. Exactly twenty-two minutes from the time he'd walked out of his house and got into Shouta's car.

The café was once again devoid of customers and the person behind the bar was looking up at him crossly.

"A little less force when you open the door, next time," she told him and Klein nodded obediently, not because he was intending on listening, but simply because Kathy Mills was one scary lady. Who knew what she might do if he didn't agree right away.

The café itself was devoid of customers, but there were two people sitting at the table in the corner, seemingly having been engaged in a conversation which had abruptly stopped when Klein walked in. The dark-skinned girl sitting with her back turned to the wall was Kathy-san's little sister named Michelle if Klein remembered well. He didn't understand why she was present at all as this was a matter that shouldn't be concerned of either her or her sister, but he wasn't going to complain aloud.

The other person sitting in the chair beside her was the very owner of the place, Andrew Gilbert Mills, but to Klein better known by his SAO name, Agil. Unlike the last time Klein had visited, he was no longer moving in the wheelchair, but there was a pair of crutches similar to Klein's resting in the corner. He looked at Klein with a rather somber expression that once and for all cleared any doubts from Klein's mind that the e-mail he'd received a little over an hour ago was a joke.

Perhaps Agil saw it in his face, too, but the first thing he told him was to calm down. The second was to join them at the table.

Klein did exactly that, his mind clear for the first time that day. He even forgot that he was supposed to be flustered at the girl sitting there with them.

"You got here pretty fast. I wasn't expecting you before one," Agil admitted after a beat.

"I… didn't have anything important to do. I was going to have some old friends come over, but I asked if they could do it later instead. Now tell me, what was the meaning of that e-mail you sent? 'I might have some clue as to what happened to Kirito and Asuna', that's what it said. What does it mean?"

Agil didn't answer right away and in his peripheral vision Klein noticed his sister-in-law squirm, but then she pushed the tablet that was resting in front of her to Klein. He stopped it from sliding of the table and looked at her questioningly, but the girl bit her lip and said, "Take a look at those pictures. Do… do they look familiar?"

He didn't understand at first. Only once Agil gave him an affirmative nod did he focus his attention on the hi-tech device.

A folder was already open and it contained seven images in total. From the number of people there he initially thought it had to be some sort of a party, but when he opened the first picture, the room behind the people reminded him of the cheap pubs he occasionally visited during his time in SAO. It confused him, as there was no way that could be somewhere in real life, but then his attention was taken over by the people in the image.

Well, calling them people might be a bit of a stretch. Klein was pretty sure normal humans didn't have pointed ears and hair colors such as blue or purple. Nor did they have cat ears.

"What is this?" he asked in confusion. The first image wasn't of any help as he couldn't recognize a single person present, but it was confusing like hell.

"Look here," Michelle said as she took the tablet back and zoomed in on the image. When she returned it, the most he could see was half of a frame of a pretty girl with long blue hair, a grin on her face and an arm over her shoulder. She looked as if she were a bit squeezed while trying to make space for somebody with very large shoulders, but otherwise seemed to be in a pretty good mood. There was something infuriatingly familiar about that face, Klein thought, but he simply couldn't piece it together.

"You don't recognize her?" Michelle frowned in thought.

"Not in the slightest."

She took the tablet back and quickly went over several photos, zoomed in and returned it back to Klein.

"How about here?"

The image now was taken at the same place like the previous one, only this time the girl wasn't looking towards the camera. The quality was a bit better than the previous image and this time he could clearly see both her and the guy who had his arm on her shoulder. He raised an eyebrow at the boy trying to hide behind her back, but looking at her face from profile somehow made it look a lot more familiar. Then Klein remembered the e-mail he'd received and looked at Agil in with wide eyes.

"You think that could be Asuna?" he breathed out. "And the one hiding—Kirito?"

"Got it in one."

Klein looked back towards the image and zoomed out, then quickly scrolled through the rest of them. Six images in total were taken at the same place, but only those two he saw had the two possible friends of his on it. The final image was a bit weirder, though, showing another blue haired girl giving a victory sign and was clearly taken somewhere outside.

"B-but how? Where?" Klein stammered as he pushed it away.

"ALfheim Online."

Klein's head snapped towards Michelle who was the one to answer his question. Not that the answer made any sense.

"You better tell him what you told me," Agil told her in soft voice and Michelle took a shaky breath, then nodded.

"ALO… abbreviation for the name of the game I just mentioned. It's a VRMMO you can play with AmuSphere, but I'll skip that part," she explained as she noticed Klein's puzzled expression. "It's something I've been playing for a while now. Anyway, a few days ago I was logged in with my guild and we encountered—well, more like he found us, really. A strange guy, solo, obviously beginner, but he beat us when the three of us teamed up on him."

"And you think it might be Kirito?" Klein asked to Agil with growing doubt.

"It is," Michelle interrupted him. "At least that's what he said his name is. And the person he was meeting at the World Tree goes by the name Asuna. That can't be a coincidence, right?"

Klein's fists clutched as he thought back to the image she'd shown him. The resemblance between the girl and Asuna was present, he could attest to that, but was it really…? No, that wasn't the right question.

"Did they come out and say it?" he asked. "How do you even know? Do you know either one of them?"

Michelle opened her mouth, looking a bit overwhelmed by all the questions he'd asked. She then took a deep breath and explained, "I don't. Not in RL, if that's what you meant. Hell, I hardly know them in-game, but if anyone had told me the two of them might be the SAO players who haven't woken up, I'd suggest them to visit asylum."

"Then how—?"

"It's the raid," she said desperately. "A group of us tried to conquer the World Tree in a pretty weird way and we failed miserably. I was raving about it to Andrew this morning and Kirito's name just slipped… and he recognized it."

Klein once again looked at Agil, but the other man just shrugged. "I didn't think it possible, at first. It's not that rare of a name so I thought it was just the coincidence, but I went on asking about him and the more I learned, the more certain I got. It's them."

"But doesn't that mean they're awake?" Klein asked. "Because if they're already playing another MMO, they have to be—"

"I don't think so," Agil said while shaking his head. "If that were true, I think Kirito would have already tried contacting me, or so I'd like to think. I don't know, but I suspect they might be trapped in there."

"Which I keep saying is impossible," Michelle argued. "How do you get stuck inside a game? What happened with SAO was pre-planned and ALO wouldn't have ever been released if there existed a slightest possibility for somebody to get stuck in there against their will! Besides, what happened in SAO happened due to a safety fault in NerveGears that nobody would ever think would be exploited that way! AmuSpheres have special safeties installed specifically for that reason!"

"Which is why I think that neither one of them is using an AmuSphere," Agil countered. "ALfheim can be played with NerveGears as well. And transfers from one game to another are possible in theoretical sense if the servers are similar or outside factors are having a hand at it."

Michelle opened her mouth to argue again, but then she seemed to realize that it might be possible after all, so she just shook her head. "I still don't think they're trapped inside. But I can't deny that I've never seen them log out. That's weird, right?"

Agil nodded in acceptance and reached out for her tablet. She raised an eyebrow, but allowed him to take it. For several minutes Klein and Michelle watched in silence as Agil rapidly typed something in a hurry.

Klein didn't know what to think. On one hand, he knew that without asking those guys from National Security, they had no way of knowing whether Kirito was awake or not. On the other, his gut feeling was telling him that Agil was right to be suspicious of this and that there was something important they didn't know about this.

"What are you looking for?" Michelle asked, successfully breaking Klein's train of thought. For a moment he was convinced that she was asking him, but then he saw her looking at Agil whose face expression was beginning to change as he couldn't seem to find whatever he was looking for.

"There was an article that came out a few days ago," he said as he scrolled through the page. "It was published online, about three hundred players not waking up and why the authorities would be trying to keep it under warps, but I can't find it."

"It probably got removed by now," Klein mumbled and Agil nodded in agreement. "But I believe you, so you don't have to waste your time on that."

Agil murmured something, but didn't stop.

"All right, I'm sick of this," Michelle decided. "I'm just going to go and log in right now, see if they're there and if they are, just ask them bluntly. That will make both of you stop looking like world's coming to an end and we'll know for sure why they hadn't contacted either of you by now. Does that sound okay?"

"No," Klein said.

"Huh?"

"Yeah, you're confusing me as well," Agil added. "Michelle could log in right now and we'd be finished in five minutes. Then we'd know for sure what is going on."

"That's probably true," Klein agreed, "but this is Kirito we're talking about. Do you really think he'd tell her about it even if he knew she knew us? Because I don't think he would. Even if he had a big problem going on, I doubt he'd tell me, let alone somebody whom he's known for a few days."

"Well, that certainly sounds like him," Agil muttered.

"That's why I'm going to log in," Klein decided. The decision surprised him as much as it surprised Agil, but he knew it to be the right one the moment the words left his mouth.

"O-oi, are you sure about—?"

"I'm sure," Klein said. "Michelle-san can help me adapt quickly to the game and she already knows where they are, so reaching them won't be much of a problem. I'm sure that if I ask personally, they would be honest. Using a third-party for conversations like that could never be a good idea to start with."

"If you're sure, then," Agil agreed. "Actually, I was intending on doing something similar as soon as my month-long ban was lifted so I already bought the game. I'll go get it—"

"Sit back down."

Agil froze in that very moment and looked over at Kathy – who had by now been deathly silent – as she gave an order with unquestionable authority before Agil even got a chance to move. She then looked at her sister and said, "Michelle, you go. You'll know where to find it. Heavens know I don't want to see him climbing the staircase in that condition."

"Right, then," Michelle said with an awkward smile. "I'll be right back."

Klein followed a quiet exchange of looks between the two sisters a little before Michelle left, then leaned over to Agil and whispered, "What month-long ban?"

Agil shrugged with a helpless look on his face. "I promised I wouldn't."

"You can't be serious."

"You can handle it yourself. If something really big goes down, I'll help out, but otherwise…"

"No, I get it," Klein then said as Agil cast a significant look towards his wife. "Your wife is scary." He felt heat rising up to his face when he realized the aforementioned lady was standing less than three meters away from them and could quite probably hear every single word they said.

Fortunately, that was the moment when Michelle returned.

"Here," she said, passing the game to Klein quickly. "Most of the basic things have been described in the manual, but if you want to get to Arun quickly I'd say the best thing you can do is stay logged in the whole night, not stop even when your wings are spent and continue by running. That should reduce the necessary time to a day, two at most depending on how quickly you want to go. There's also a search engine and you can add me as a friend without meeting me face to face. I'll give you a quick briefing on voluntary flight and other useful tricks in-game, you just send me an IM when you're logged in. Name's Amber. Race Leprechaun, in case there's somebody else by the same name."

Klein nodded, feeling a little bit amazed at the entire information influx. He wanted to ask about the flying thing, as it sounded a bit weird. He didn't think flying in a VRMMO would be possible, but it sounded pretty neat.

On his other side, Agil had both his eyebrows lifted and was looking at Michelle in surprise. "You're being really helpful today," he noticed.

She smiled, but there was something in it that made her look sad rather than happy or satisfied. Even her voice had a tinge of melancholy to it. "I guess… well, you weren't there, sitting beside the hospital bed of somebody you know while knowing that they were fighting a battle for survival in something that should have been just a pass-time activity."

"Is this about the brother of that friend of yours you've mentioned?" Agil asked solemnly.

"Yeah. But it's about you, too. Wasn't I the one who gave you that game in the first place?"

"I never held that against you. I asked for the first roll."

"Well, anyway, if you need anything, you know how to contact me. If you want, I can let them know you're coming, so they wouldn't be too shocked to see you come out of nowhere."

Having been a bit more immersed in their conversation than he probably should have, Klein was taken by surprise to find Michelle suddenly speaking to him. She gave him a strange look, to which he nodded in agreement. "Ah, yeah, that'd be great," he said. "Just tell them Klein's dropping for a visit."

"I'll do that. I'll go log in right now." She nodded and went to kiss her sister on the cheek, then grabbed her purse and left the café.

Klein looked over at Agil and asked, "So, what do we do if it turns out they're really trapped? Contact those guys from National Security?"

"It would probably be for the best."

Klein nodded, then took out his phone to send a text to his personal transporter. He felt a bit bad about it, exploiting his good will that way, but he promised to himself he was going to pay it back afterwards, as soon as the stupid crutches stopped being necessary.

The short reply '2 mins' was not something he'd been expecting, but it was much better than the ten he'd originally been hoping for.

He stood up and took the game. "I'm leaving, then. Thanks for telling me all this. I'll send you a mail as soon as I get to the bottom of this." Then he walked out with a nod of acknowledgment towards Kathy, which she returned. Klein looked down at the game he was holding in his hands and decided, as his friends wouldn't be coming over for at least another two hours, he could log in as soon as he got home.

* * *

"What are you up to?"

Kirito blinked in surprise as looked up to see Asuna standing at the door. Having been immersed into looking the photos of the World Tree that Ichigo had managed to take on the previous day, he didn't even hear her open the door. He'd normally expect a knock on the door or something of the kind, but since this was technically her room, it was he who was intruding.

"I was just looking over the pictures again. There were some things that don't quite match up, it's beginning to bother me," he told her honestly, then scrolled over to look at the next one.

"Really? Such as what?" Asuna asked as she walked over the room and leaned at the window.

Kirito looked at the image currently displayed, gestured to her to get closer, then sat up and started, zoomed in the image to the maximum size and pointed over at something. "What does that look like to you?"

He couldn't see her face expression well because she sat right beside him, but when she spoke it sounded as though she wasn't certain of her words, "An empty birdcage?"

"That's what I thought, too. But what's it doing down there? Ichigo said she'd flown past the lowest branches and could have gone higher if she hadn't been teleported back, but she said there'd been nothing close for her to land at. So that has to be one of the lowest branches. But according to whole legend thing shouldn't there be something there? Legendary city of Alfs, King Oberon's palace, things like that? She should have seen something more, because it's impossible for the tree to be so high."

"I don't know. I've never been that good with game mechanics," Asuna replied. "But, Kirito-kun, I've been thinking… I know I said I didn't want to get anyone else involved because you still think there's a possibility this might have been done to us on purpose, but there is something I haven't told you about."

She turned to him with a sharp look in his eyes that he might have thought she was angry with him, if it hadn't been for what she said next.

"The truth is, and I heard this from Ame sometime ago, the producer of this game is RECTO Progress Inc. According to her, it is the company that bought Argus after they bankrupted due to the SAO incident," there she paused and Kirito still didn't understand what she was trying to say.

What she told him made it more easier for their transfer to happen, but how exactly did it matter in the bigger picture? Unless if she knew something else he didn't, that information was of value, true, but not enough.

Just when he was about to tell her that, she said, "The CEO of that company is my father."

Somehow, that thought didn't seem very comforting.

First thing Kirito wanted to ask was why she hadn't told him that sooner, but from the look on her face he could tell that she wasn't very comfortable about mentioning it at all. Why, he had no slightest idea, but that was something he didn't feel necessary to think on too deeply at the moment. That information alone changed a great deal of things.

"So, did you want to contact the the GM?" he asked. That would be by far the most logical thing for them to do now. A certain variable of an unknown foe that had Kirito worried was removed with this particular fact. Having thought of many scenarios that could have ended with the two of them trapped in ALO, most of them involved a third party responsible of that. But if Asuna's family really owned the company that had produced the game, it reduced the risk by a significant amount.

To his surprise, however, Asuna quickly shook her head.

"No—not at all! The GM might be somebody working for my father, but what are the chances he will take my words seriously? I know some of the men who work with him and half of them wouldn't twitch an eye if somebody introduced themselves by my name and explained this situation. It might interest some, but most of them wouldn't bother checking. They'd think it's some sort of a prank. No, what I was thinking is that it would be better if I asked somebody I knew to try establishing contact from the outside."

"That's… not a bad idea. It would be almost ideal if we could get in touch with him through somebody—"

"Not my father," Asuna interrupted.

"No? Why not? You think he won't believe the story?"

"He'll believe, I think. I don't know. But he's a busy man. For him to talk to a gamer would take learning everything through somebody else, first. It would be much easier—"

The knock on the door interrupted her and they both turned towards the door sharply.

Kirito tilted his head. "I thought everyone was logged out. Who could it be?"

"I know for sure that Tramp logged out over ten minutes ago. And I haven't seen anyone else. Ichigo-san said she had to work… It could be Ame-chan, but she said she'd send an IM when she logs in."

Kirito then got up and walked over to the door. Whoever it was, there was no use fretting about it. When he opened them he was standing face-to-face with Amber. Her eyes were wide, almost as if she hadn't been expecting him to open the door.

"Hey," he said.

"Uh, hi. I thought this was Asuna's room, sorry—"

"No, it's fine, Amber-san," Asuna called from the inside. "Come on in. I thought you said you weren't coming today."

Kirito stepped out of the way to let the Leprechaun girl pass, but as she walked in she was strangely slow and her face expression was something between uncomfortable and worried. As soon as Asuna saw it, she stood up and walked over to her. Amber had several centimeters on Asuna in heights, but for some reason she was holding her head so low that Asuna appeared to be taller.

"Is something wrong?"

"Wrong? Well, no. Not wrong, no. It's just…" she hesitated, looking over from Kirito and Asuna, until she seemed to come to a decision. "I need to ask you something, both of you."

Kirito glanced over to Asuna, but she was entirely focused on the Leprechaun girl.

"Go ahead."

Amber seemed to relax a little and she lifted her head to face them.

"When… when was the last time either of you logged out of ALO?"

To say that Kirito was surprised wouldn't be doing it any justice. He almost went out and said last night as a quick defense, but judging by the way she was looking at them, she wouldn't fall for such an answer. It meant that she either knew the part of the story or was on a very good route to figuring it out.

"What do you mean?"

Kirito had to give it to Asuna; her voice hardly wavered. She sounded almost as she was a touch worried, but the confusion in general was enough to cover it.

"You never did, did you?" Amber concluded. Unlike her last question, this one barely left her lips. If Kirito hadn't seen them move, he would have thought he was just imagining it. But she was looking from him to Asuna in a way that suggested that she already knew that answer. Not really seeing any point in lying, Kirito simply told her.

"We didn't."

"But how did you—?" Asuna started, but Amber interjected.

"I didn't," she said. "You wanted to ask how I figured it out, but I didn't. The most I've done was complained about yesterday's failure to somebody I know in the real world and…" she shook her head several times. "I refused to believe it at first. I thought it was impossible, crazy. It doesn't make any sense. But what he said actually made it out as possible and…"

"Who were you talking to?" Kirito asked, slowly beginning to panic on the inside. Did somebody know about this? If yes, why wasn't it taken care of yet? Was it impossible to log them out because of the same risk back in SAO? And just who did she tell?

"My brother-in-law. His name is Andrew Mills, but I don't know the name he used in SAO. I never… I never asked him. I mentioned your name, Kirito, I wasn't even thinking about it. He then kept asking and in the end came up with this theory that the two of you are basically imprisoned inside the game… I honestly thought he was wrong and was just thinking too much, but I remembered Sang mentioning that he'd once logged in at four in the morning and you were still logged in…"

She took a deep breath to calm her shaky voice. "Anyway, I was talking to him just ten minutes ago. He called over another friend from SAO…"

"Another…?"

"Do you know this other person's name?" Asuna asked.

Amber nodded. "Yeah. He said his name is Klein."

"K-Klein?" Kirito repeated.

"You know him, right? I mean, I don't think that you don't, but—"

"Yeah… I know him, all right," Kirito muttered. The mention of the name stirred up something inside of him. Perhaps it was because it was one familiar name that he now knew for sure was safe and back in the real world. To think that Amber had been talking to him less than ten minutes ago suddenly made everything he'd been through worthwhile.

"Is he… is he all right?" he asked despite himself.

"I guess. I mean, he certainly _seemed_ that way when he said he'll be logging in later today…"

"He's _what_? He said that? He knows what's going on, yet he still said that?" Asuna exclaimed.

"Y-yep."

Kirito covered his eyes with his palm. "That idiot. Just what is he thinking?"

"He can't do that!" Asuna protested. "Amber-san, go back and stop him! What if he—?"

"Just what makes you think he won't be able to log out?" Amber asked them in disbelief. "I don't know how it might be for you, but I gave him the game I bought at the same place where I bought mine. There's no reason for him to get stranded here. Moreover, since when were you the one to panic?"

That final question was directed at Kirito and he felt a bit awkward, now that she'd pointed it out. He exchanged a look with Asuna and he realized Amber had a pretty good reasoning. No matter how it turned out for the two of them, Klein would be logging in as a regular player and none of those players he'd met so far had any trouble leaving the game.

"It looks like we're the ones over thinking this now," he told Asuna. "But this might be a good thing. At least Klein might have a better idea of what's going on."

"I guess." She nodded in agreement slowly, then bit her lip as she turned to Amber. "Can you do something for me, please?"

"Like what?"

"There is a person I'd like for you to contact. Would you be able to do that?"

Kirito gave her a questioning look, but Asuna shook her head as to indicate she would explain it to him later, not that he considered it necessary. It was easy to see what she was doing.

Amber nodded reluctantly. "Okay. Just, tell me who and how I can reach them and I'll do it."

Asuna smiled gratefully then materialized the virtual keyboard. "His name is Yuuki Kouichirou. I'm not sure if he's still using it, but this is the e-mail address. Just tell him something that will get him to meet you in person. I know I'm asking too much, but I can't do it any other way. When you meet him, tell him everything you know. I'm sure you know even more than we do, as so far the only thing we know for sure is that we're alive. Don't accept if he offers to send somebody else, though."

"How will I even know who he is?" Amber moaned. "I've never seen him in my life and—"

"Just google him," Asuna said simply.

"Huh?"

"I mean it. The last I thing I heard is that he was supposed to be preparing to take over as RECTO's public face. There'll have to be pictures online."

"I guess that makes sense… but RECTO? _The _RECTO? How do you even know this person?"

"Secret~" Asuna chuckled. "But if somebody might be able to do anything about this," she gestured towards herself and Kirito, "then it's him."

"Fine," Amber agreed and opened her status window. "Looks like I'm being nothing but a messenger today. Errand girl. Ugh."

"Just think of yourself as harbinger of good news," Asuna laughed.

"You make it sound _so_ much better," Amber said dryly, the last of her nervousness dissipating away and she even cracked a smile. It was gone quickly, however, replaced by a worried face. "I-is there any danger that something might happen to you in the real world, you know, if your HP drops to zero?"

At that, Asuna didn't have a proper response. She looked over to Kirito for help and he said quietly, "I don't know. But that's not going to happen. We'll stay inside the safe zones for the most part and even if we don't, you don't have to worry. We can take care of ourselves."

"If you're so sure… Well, I'm going, then. Don't kill me for logging out in your room if I interrupt something later."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Asuna demanded, but Amber only smiled before logging out. She then turned to Kirito as though offended. "And why do you look so amused?"

"It's nothing!"

"It better not be."

Kirito nodded obediently. He then looked through the window and asked, "Now what?"

"Now we wait." Asuna turned to look as well and when she spoke, it sounded just the way he felt. Relieved. Happy. But also incredibly useless and powerless. The power that had been in their hands for so long was now taken away from them entirely and was resting on the shoulders of others.

_Was this how those middle and lower-level players felt when the clearers entered a dungeon?_

He thought it ought to be different than that. More complicated, more conflicted. He could perhaps understand a tiny bit, what he hadn't understood before, as he'd been fighting from the very beginning. The way others must have felt while waiting for a rescue must have been similar to this. The truth was, he didn't like it at all.

"Let's go… outside, for a walk somewhere. Staying in a room like this… I feel like I'm suffocating."

"Yeah," Asuna agreed.

She led the way out, but for the briefest of moments he thought he'd seen her form shimmer. Perhaps he would have thought it to be a trick of the light in the real world, but in the virtual world he knew those things didn't happen without a reason. Even without him being aware of it at first, his hand grabbed Asuna's arm tightly and he felt incredibly relieved that he didn't grab empty air.

"Kirito-kun?" She gave him a questioning look, but he shook his head.

"It's fine. I just thought I saw something for a moment. Don't worry. Just… just promise me you'll be careful."

"What are you trying to say, that I can't take care of myself?"

"N-no, that's not it at all."

"Let's go. There was this restaurant I noticed in the north part of the city and I want to take a look. Food in ALfheim is so bland, it's even worse than the cheapest things you could get in Aincrad."

Kirito didn't try resisting as she pulled him along. Her behavior was normal and she didn't even appear to have noticed something strange. It almost left him feeling completely convinced that it was fine. Almost.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Update rate should slow down a lot now. I might be able to get the next chapter out before the weekend, but chances of that are pretty slim. Klein fans rejoice. He'll be showing up a lot more often from now on, including some other canon characters. Till the next chapter.


	13. Chapter XIII

_I'll never let you down_  
_Even if I could_  
_I'd give up everything_  
_If only for your good_

_**—3 Doors Down, When I'm gone**_

**Link to Reality**

Chapter XIII

_November 16__th_

Michelle was beginning to hate her habit of never being able to refuse others. It was what usually got her in trouble and occasionally got her into positions she would have otherwise never chosen.

The most glaring example had to be the way she simply couldn't turn down her in-game guild leader Ichigo, despite their longstanding friendship in both real and virtual reality, when she'd asked her to switch from the frontline attacker to a back-up healer roughly eight, maybe nine months ago. It had been a plea and even now Michelle knew she could have turned it down with no problem, as her friend really wouldn't hold it against her, but she didn't. She still didn't understand why. What she did understand was that, despite her general personality and the way others saw her as a best fit for a medic, Michelle didn't feel comfortable in that role. At heart she was nothing else but a restless action girl, itching for action rather than standing at the back and making sure others could get it. Maybe that's why she was so bad at it, too.

Regardless, that wasn't one of her problems right now.

Her problem right now could be summed up in one very important question: what happens when virtual reality is no longer separated from the _real _reality?

_This,_ Michelle thought in disdain as she walked out of the train and rushed up the stairs towards the street. _I become an on-call messenger._

Even if her bad habit had not gotten the better of her yet _again_, she knew she would have gotten involved somehow, sooner or later. Two weeks ago, number of the people she'd known were stranded in SAO was two, which one could say was quite a number seeing how that kind of information was supposed to be on a need-to-know basis only and only the closest people to the players knew anything. Others would probably guess, but that wasn't the point. The point was that in Michelle's case that number had increased to five, two of them people who'd she'd been absolutely certain were just addicted to gaming.

Yeah. Reality had a weird way of twisting things. Michelle wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. Probably not.

Accepting Asuna's request to contact this Yuuki Kouichirou was another situation where her bad habit got her in trouble. Not twenty minutes after she'd sent the e-mail on which she'd spent an hour trying to make it as eloquent and hooking as possible, she got a call on her phone. Her _mobile _phone. Apparently, this Kouichirou guy didn't want to waste a second when it came to his sister – which was another shocker. Really, Asuna could have mentioned that it was her brother Michelle was contacting. How that guy came in possession of Michelle's phone number, she wasn't sure she wanted to find out. She got a feeling it would destroy any illusion she had on her life being a private matter.

The worst thing of all had to be the conversation, Michelle reflected. She'd sounded like a terrified chicken with nothing to back up her claims and when he'd asked for an eye-to-eye meeting before she even remembered she was supposed to do it, Michelle had been flabbergasted. She had been both relieved for keeping her promise to Asuna and terrified that she'd screwed up so she had basically agreed to anything – which was the worst mistake she could have made.

She'd let him choose the meeting place. She made a note not to ever let somebody else do that.

He'd chosen a place named Sapphire Jewel, a restaurant in the fancier part of the city. If Michelle remembered right, it was listed as twenty-third on the list of the by far the most enticing places in the world. It was also one of the most expensive places in the history of ever. Michelle knew that. She'd been present during the opening as one of the fans of many famous people who'd shown up a few years back.

But actually walking in there… Even in her wildest dreams, she wouldn't have done it, not because of an inferiority complex, rather because she would never want to spend hours doing makeup and choosing clothes in which she'd be allowed to walk in without being sent back. And that was exactly what she'd had to do before heading out for this particular meeting.

She'd asked Kathy to help with makeup as Michelle's experience ended with applying mascara and lipstick, but the overcoat on her now had been something she'd gotten as a present and something she would have never worn if the situation wasn't so dire, what with the extensive hood made entirely out of exotic fur.

The dress she was wearing was something she'd worn when going out late at night back during her high school days and it was something she was freezing in at the moment. It was quite a bit above knee length, dark blue and shiny, with a black overcoat so that she wouldn't get seriously sick. The heels she wore were not a fit either for the cold weather or quick walk down the streets, but she didn't have much choice. The rest of her shoe choices were limited to some pretty ugly boots and several different kinds of trainers and she knew they'd never let her enter the place if she'd worn any of that.

Another big problem with everything was that she was late. At this point, it would take her another half an hour or more to reach her destination and the meeting time was supposed to be in fifteen minutes.

"Next time, no. Just no, no, no and no. Forget the guilt, forget being a bitch. I'm not doing this ever again."

With that determination, she stepped onto the crosswalk without really looking to see if the light was right. The screeching tires and something suddenly colliding with her thigh reminded her of that harshly.

Michelle had to say that at the moment of impact, she couldn't really say it hurt. It knocked her off balance and since she was bad with heels anyway, she fell down completely, but other than scratching her hands as she tried to catch herself and the original place where the car had hit, it didn't hurt her much.

For the first time in her life, she realized as she lifted herself in a sitting position, she was worried about her appearance being ruined rather than the near-death experience.

Not even the crowd of people that was now allowed to cross the street worried her as much as her appearance did, despite them looking at her strangely.

"A-are you all right? Oh god, are you okay?"

Michelle tried to shake her head and indicate she was fine, but the woman that had asked that didn't seem to care much about the answer. She helped her stand on her feet and only then Michelle realized that somehow she'd twisted her ankle, not that it hurt very much. She'd had worse.

"I'm okay, I'm okay," she told the woman, sounding detached.

She found her situation to be too bizarre for her to complain about petty scratches. God damn it, she'd almost _died_ and she wanted to complain about being late. How crazy could she get?

"You look like you'd seen a ghost," the woman corrected her harshly. "Can you stand?"

"I'm fine, I think," Michelle answered while shaking her head. "Thank you, really, but I have to go."

"No, you don't. Get in the car. I'm taking you to a hospital. Suguha! Suguha! Open the back door!"

"What? No!" Michelle protested instantly, but the woman wasn't listening.

"We're heading there anyway so there's nothing for you to be worried about," the woman insisted as she led her towards the back door. "Dear lord, you're lucky I was driving slow in the first place!"

Michelle tried resisting, but she felt unsteady on her feet. The ankle she'd twisted didn't hurt that much, but it was still frustrating when she shuddered each time she tried to put her weight on it. In the end, she had no choice but to sit next to a high-school-age girl who had to be the Suguha who'd the woman had called earlier.

"Are you all right? You look really pale," said the girl. She gave Michelle a look which seemed to be a cross between worry and annoyance, yet it still managed to sound as if she cared to know the answer.

A completely independent and generally inquisitive part of Michelle's mind wondered how come the girl had noticed that. Was her skin that different from normal? She didn't think she could look noticeably pale, what with her dark skin, but this was weird.

"I'm fine," she announced sharply. "And I don't have to go to a hospital. I was just a little bit surprised, that is all. All I've got are some scratches so there's really nothing to worry about. I'm sorry for inconveniencing you with my lack of attention."

"Don't be ridiculous, I'm to blame as much as you," the woman admonished from the front seat as she returned to the traffic.

"But don't take me to a hospital," Michelle insisted. "I'm in a hurry to meet somebody and I can't allow myself to be late."

"All right," the woman agreed. "Then where do you want me to take you?"

Michelle wanted to ask the woman if she was serious, but held back. Instead, she looked over at the girl sitting besides her, giving her a curios look, then quickly turned to look out the window.

"Actually, do you know where the restaurant Sapphire Jewel is?" she asked awkwardly. It was far. By train it would take around half an hour to the right stop and some more time until she reached the place itself, so there was no way she could ask this person to drive her all the way there. "No, better not. You can just pull over there by the next sta—"

"That's all right," the woman interrupted her. "We were heading to the hospital so it's a bit out our way, but not terribly so. You'll have just enough time to fix everything about your styling, too."

Michelle almost grimaced at the outdated word, but the worry about her looks returned in full swing. She hastily reached for her purse and searched for a tiny mirror she managed to push in there with her wallet, train pass and cell phone. She checked her appearance to the slightest detail and was satisfied to learn that it was still acceptable. Her dress and coat were still in one piece, although a bit dusty, though she'd taken care of that without trouble. The dark bruise forming on her thigh was not that easy to handle, unfortunately.

She frowned at the sight of it and hoped that nobody would look precisely there. With her dress, though, that was a questionable thing.

"What are your names?" Michelle asked suddenly, as she remembered something important. The woman behind the wheel chuckled lightly.

"I'm Kirigaya Midori, and that is my daughter, Kirigaya Suguha. How about you, Miss?"

Michelle nodded, quickly typing the names into the phone so she'd be able to properly thank them for this later on. Distractedly, she answered, "It's Densen Michelle. Although, Michelle is just fine."

"I'd like to say it is a pleasure to meet you, but I'm still feeling guilty about hitting you," Midori admitted.

To that, Michelle just waved her arm quickly to dismiss it. "It's fine, really. I should have paid attention. I've been going out of my mind for some things going on and I guess it took its toll on me, but don't worry. It doesn't hurt and I'm fine." She assured them.

The rest of the ride was spent in making small talk and Michelle was satisfied with that. For somebody heading to a hospital, Midori was one very bright and extroverted woman and Michelle actually found the ride to be enjoyable once she got over her primary nervousness. Being nervous wasn't much like her, as she was pretty outgoing as a person and had a lot of friends and Midori was similar. Michelle had even managed to learn her, Suguha's and even Suguha's brother's favorite cakes, which was another detail she committed to her memory without missing a beat. Once they reached the destination, Michelle couldn't quite call them friends, but acquaintances definitely.

"Thank you very much," she told them honestly as she walked out of the car, her ankle still a bit sensitive.

"Do watch out in the future, not everyone cares if they hit somebody," Midori warned her, but as she was smiling, Michelle didn't take it as she was trying to call her careless.

"I'll remember that," she said with a grin. Then, right before she slammed the door and left, she told them, "Expect a cake delivery soon."

That taken care of, Michelle walked over to the famed place where she was supposed to enter and took a shaky breath as she gave it a good look.

It was a two-storey building with the second storey made entirely out of glass, the walls, inner and outer, the roof, everything except for the tables and chairs. The people sitting there were of the refined and rich kind with way too much free time on their hands, those with whom Michelle as a part-time accountant could never stand equally. The entrance itself was grand and had a red carpet leading inside, completely impeccable. Michelle was pretty sure it was raining just yesterday, but the carped didn't have a spot on it. She wondered how many times a day it was replaced with another exactly the same one. Right before the door was a man in a suit who looked like a businessman and not security, which is in fact what he really was. For a moment, Michelle even thought she saw a gun holster.

_Is that even legal? _she wondered as she walked closer. Not that she could blame the guy. People inside had to be VIPs in the least, so that kind of protection was probably justified. Not that it made her feel any better.

"Looks like the fun is over," Michelle muttered in her chin as she tried to relax. It didn't work.

She then walked inside all while hoping that the heath she felt around her face was going to pass unnoticed.

Or at least, she tried to. The man from the security stopped her before she set a single foot on the red carpet waiting for her.

"Do you have a reservation?" he asked, sounding as though he would like it nothing more than to hear her reluctantly admit that she didn't. Well, tough luck.

"Yes," she bit off sharply as she gathered all of her courage. "Table seven."

The man scowled, then took out the tablet to check out the reservations. His scowl deepened.

"That table is reserved for Yuuki Kouichirou-san and—"

"Densen Michelle," she bit off, but her hands were trembling. "And that's me. Are you going to let me in?"

He didn't seem very satisfied with her behavior, but he opened the door for her nonetheless. As she slowly walked inside, she promised to herself, never again.

At least that Yuuki had the presence of mind to mention her name when making the reservation. She didn't know what she'd done if he hadn't.

She was only five minutes late, but this was beginning to get on her nerves. Would he berate her? Would he even listen to her? Considering where he was going for a meal, he was probably just as stuck up as the rest of all these snobs so that probably wasn't going to end well.

The inside of the restaurant was colored in soft shades of blue, white and light brown, which was a strange combination, but it was combined in a way that made it both stand out and look regal at the same time. It was large, so much bigger than she'd been expecting and the tiles were made of something very high quality. There was a tiny fountain in the middle of the room, but it went well with the general interior. It was made out of a strange material that reflected the inside lights, making the water inside look incredibly shiny.

All the tables she could see were of a strange, very interesting and curved design, while the chairs were covered in white fabrics which she feared she might rip if she sat the wrong way. The waiters wore only white uniforms which were impeccably clean that Michelle actually had trouble taking it seriously, along with black bowties.

One of them approached Michelle and asked about her reservation, then as she responded, led her to a table a bit further away.

It was one of the more secluded tables and Michelle could only assume what sort of people went to sit there, but she didn't feel bothered anymore. Perhaps that was because she was being too busy feeling relaxed that Asuna's brother hadn't shown up yet. At least he couldn't accuse her of being late. There was a single tiny lamp on the wall right above the table. On the table itself was a single rectangular shaped ashtray.

"Yuuki-san sent a note to warn that he might be a bit late," the waiter informed her as Michelle took her seat and touched the soft white fabric covering the chair. "Do you want to order anything?"

She shook her head. "I'll wait," she said. A drink would have been amazing, but the truth was, she was afraid that even a glass of water might cost her a thousand Yen.

She sat and leaned her elbows on the table, then covered her face with her hands.

"Just what did I get into?" she moaned.

That question served its purpose far better half an hour later, when she was getting absolutely restless, nervous, frustrated and impatient and the man she was waiting for still wasn't showing up.

Nobody came to ask her if she wanted anything to drink and at this point, Michelle would have told them to give her one shot of the strongest drink they had no matter the price. She'd even changed her seat so she'd sit with her bruised thigh turned to the wall, so that it wouldn't get noticed. Her overcoat covered it for the most part, but she still liked it better hidden.

The people inside the restaurant weren't paying much attention to her, but those who did always had a momentary look of scorn. Whether it was because of her skin color or something else that made it obvious Michelle didn't belong, she had no idea. Their clothes were made of finest materials, their voices rang like beautiful melodies that soon got very annoying and the things they were praising started making her feel very sick.

Michelle was becoming awfully self-conscious and that wasn't a good thing. She didn't remember being self-conscious since her first year in high school, but this was worse. Because unlike in high school, where you could find one or maybe two normal people, in this place, everyone who set their eyes on you was judging you, and Michelle didn't feel comfortable knowing that. She wondered how Asuna had stayed sane if she'd been living in this world her whole life. Then she remembered she didn't even know the girl's age, she seemed like a genuinely likeable person and had spent two years stranded in SAO.

Yeah. That would have gotten just about anyone's stick out of their ass.

It was forty five minutes after the agreed meeting time that she recognized Yuuki Kouichirou walking in, without anyone even trying to stop him. The security man didn't look at him twice, the waiters tried to tell him something, but as he was busy talking on a phone, he just dismissed them as he walked over towards Michelle and the table.

It was clear he frequented this place, especially as he didn't need anyone to show him in which direction to go. Michelle wondered what sort of chicks he brought here with him, but then decided that she didn't care.

He sat down into the seat across hers without even giving her a proper look, too busy arguing.

"—having that done! You can forget it. You know who you should ask? Sugou. That guy's in charge of research facility, not Takada. No, he's just another sub-par programmer, I think. Yes. Yes. _Yes_. I've got to go. I'll give you a call later and let you know how if he'd done it the way you wanted. Yes. Fine, _mother_. No, I've had lunch already. Now_ bye_."

Michelle was honestly surprised at that. Her eyes widened and she almost started outright laughing, but she held back at the dark look on his face as he hung up. It took a lot of effort on her part, though.

Yuuki Kouichirou leveled her with a glare worthy of one so high standing man, but at this point, Michelle just couldn't take him seriously anymore. The glare made him look somewhat older and more experienced than she assumed he was, but he still looked more like a university student considering the other businessman Michelle had had a chance to see. His hair was dark and disheveled, a little bit over shoulder length. The suit was generic black over a white undershirt, but there was an obvious lack of any kid of a tie. He didn't even have a briefcase with him.

The image of a businessman she had on him got completely shattered.

Before her was a worried brother, rather than the public face of a big company, arguing with his mother on details unknown to Michelle. His eyes were generic brown, nothing at all to remind her of Asuna's, but Michelle realized she didn't know how that girl looked like in real life. She had to be pretty because her brother could pass for a model, but she had no slightest idea. Klein and Andrew had mentioned about both the avatars looking a lot like Kirito and Asuna they knew, but she also remembered that it took Klein a while to make a connection and even Andrew agreed that by just seeing the photos, he never would have guessed.

"Well?" Kouichirou said, interrupting Michelle's train of thought. "I'm here. Now you better tell me everything you have to say and swear that it is all true. Be fast, as I don't have a lot of time."

So Michelle told him. Not everything as there were parts even she didn't know how to interpret, but she explained everything from the way how the rumors of three hundred SAO players reached her, how she mentioned it to her brother-in-law who'd already been suspecting of something, then how Andrew, one of the players who had awoken, recognized the two SAO players present in ALO and then gave him every piece of information she had on Asuna and Kirito.

From his face, Michelle could read nothing. Whatever he was thinking, if he was thinking about it at all at the moment, he was shutting it deep inside and his face gave out nothing.

By the time she was done, roughly two hours had passed as they'd sometimes spend a lot of time discussing why something was or wasn't possible and why Kouichirou didn't seem to believe what she said. At some point, he stopped talking entirely and just let Michelle finish what she started.

When she was done, she looked at him expectantly, though she wasn't sure what she was expecting. Not a solution, that was for sure, but something. Maybe an idea or a suggestion or even another question, but none of it came.

Kouichirou was silent for a long time, or at least so it felt. He seemed to be thinking a lot, but the poker-face was still as present as ever.

"… So there is a chance you will get to log into ALO pretty soon?" he finally said in quiet voice.

Having expected something far more complicated, Michelle was a bit surprised.

"I was intending on doing that as soon as I got home. They're probably anxious to know what happened," she admitted hesitantly.

He nodded, once again seemingly lost in thought. Then he asked, "Can you give a message to Asuna?"

Michelle wanted to groan aloud. No, no, no! She was done with being the messenger!

"Sure," she said.

"Seventy two," he said.

"Huh?"

"Seventy two hours. I'll find a way to get her out of there in seventy two hours. Her and all the other players."

"Is… is that all?" Michelle asked, her voice a bit awed. That was some quick thinking he'd done right under her nose.

He nodded. "I've got to go now. Work won't get done by itself and there's a whole lot of it waiting. You can order whatever you like, just tell them to put it on my tab."

Michelle shook her head. "That won't be necessary, really. I was just intending on getting pizza across the street, as I doubt they have something like that selling here."

For the first time, Kouichirou made a face expression she could understand; a grimace that confirmed her words even without his saying anything explicitly right away. "Yeah," he agreed nonetheless. "The thing they make here is a bit too much to call regular pizza."

Then he stood up with a nod in her direction. "Well, I'm leaving. Do you happen to need transportation home or—?"

"No, I'm fine!" Michelle quickly said, but then regretted it immediately as she remembered exactly how uncomfortable her heels were. He didn't seem to notice that as he nodded, then left. No goodbye, no thanks for telling him all that; nothing.

"Today's just not my day," Michelle groaned in her chin. Then she put on her overcoat and left without ordering a thing. He might've given her permission and she probably would have used it if he'd done it earlier, but his manners sucked and now she was not intending on doing anything.

On the bright side, at least he wasn't sugar-coating anything. He didn't care about her or about treating her to anything. He didn't care who she was, where she came from or how she looked. That could be left for another time. Getting his sister back was priority number one.

Michelle wasn't that surprised at all.

She took the first taxi she found to take her home. Train pass or no, she didn't feel like wasting so much time, especially not as the heels were really uncomfortable, no matter how much it might cost. She turned on her phone, having turned it off back when Kouichirou first showed up so she'd be able to talk without interruptions, then groaned at the sight of three missed calls and seven textual messages. The calls and five texts were all from one person; Michizaki Haruka, to Michelle also known as guild-leader Ichigo, and the final two texts were from Kathy.

She didn't try opening any of them, preferring to look out the window and sigh, knowing that in a minute or so she'd get a call. She could wait that long. After all, she'd wasted forty minutes waiting for somebody who could neither apologize for being late nor say thanks even if she were trying to strangle it out of him, not that she'd actually tried. She would, though, if she ever got a chance to meet him again. She deserved at least that much.

* * *

"Just what are you doing?"

The question barely registered in Kirito's mind as he continued typing the message at the speed of light. Later he would swear that he didn't say anything at all, but he was pretty certain he'd mentioned something. What that was, though, he couldn't recall.

As he finished typing and sent the message quickly, he looked up to see Asuna with her fingers drumming against the table with a dark, pretty upset and bored look on her face. In other words, if she'd had a fork anywhere close, she would have tried stabbing it in his hand, safe zone or not.

"Sorry, sorry," he told her with his hands up in defense just as the message pop-up appeared yet again.

He moved his hand to open it immediately, but in the speed that matched her old SAO nickname, the Flash, Asuna leaned over the table and grabbed his hand right before he did it.

"Hey, what is-"

"I'm the one who should be asking that," she hissed as she let go. "For the past twenty minutes you've been just sitting and sending texts non-stop, apologizing for a moment when you stopped and generally grinning like an idiot whenever you did it. Start talking."

Wait, twenty minutes had already passed?

Kirito took a deep breath and dismissed the message without opening it.

"Well?" Asuna asked as she leaned back in her seat. "What's going on?"

"Ichigo's angry that I left the guild," he answered while his shoulders sagged a bit. "I'm pretty sure I told her I'd do it, or at least hinted at it, but it doesn't really change much. She's upset and she won't read anything I type. She just keeps ranting. It's strange. I didn't think you could have an argument through IMs that feels real."

Asuna sighed as she leaned her chin on her hand. "Does it bother you?" she asked with a face that betrayed not a single one of her thoughts.

"A bit," Kirito admitted honestly. "She never asked many questions and didn't seem to care much about why I do things the way I do. I always thought she's like that because she doesn't care, but… I'm starting to feel bad about leaving the Flaming Wolves. We're friends and if she needed anything, all she'd need to do is ask, but still…" He shook his head as he had no idea how he could put this in words. How did one explain that feeling when they knew that what they were doing had a good reason and it was for the best, yet it still felt both harsh and mean? Especially as Kirito still didn't explain his reasoning to Ichigo properly.

"I see," Asuna murmured quietly. "You probably never really told her why, so she must be upset. I don't think this is something you can settle through IMs."

"Me either," Kirito agreed.

"Then why are you trying?"

He pondered on that for a while.

"… Because she logged in, called me to come along for some challenges taking place in the south and only then noticed I've left the guild. By that time she was half-way there, I think, and she didn't want to go back."

"Leave it for now, I guess. Just talk to her when she returns to Arun," Asuna advised with a sigh, then apparently decided to change the subject. "While you were busy, I heard from Ame-chan that she found an interesting quest somewhere in north right outside Arun. Do you want to come or should I let her know I'm coming alone?"

Kirito almost agreed automatically when Asuna's form shimmered out of existence then back within a single moment again, stopping him. As a reflex, he checked the clock and it said exactly 5:00 pm in the real world.

Asuna was looking at him in a way that suggested she was expecting an answer, but Kirito didn't comply. He didn't like this. It had been exactly 1:00 PM when it first started and back then he thought it had been just a lag or something. Then it happened again at 2:00 and that was the time he told Asuna about it. She said she hadn't noticed a thing, though, so he figured it might just be some kind of a bug or something.

At 3:00 pm, he noticed the pattern. Every hour with no delay, it would happen. He had been starting to think it was somebody from the outside world trying to send a message, but he also thought Amber should have warned them about it by now. Another thing that bothered him was that seeing as they'd contacted Asuna's brother, why wouldn't she be on the receiving end of the message? It had continued being a mind-boggling question until he realized it probably wasn't a message at all.

He didn't understand it. He'd told Asuna to be careful and tell him the moment she noticed something weird and she agreed, but again she didn't even bat an eyelash. She was literally defenseless against whatever it was and it was starting to worry him well over the normal limits.

"Did it happen again?" Asuna asked, her own face suddenly changing into a puzzled expression as she correctly judged his own worries.

Kirito nodded and saw her fists tighten and shoulders twitch, but her expression was more frustrated and angry than worried, unlike his.

"Is there any way I can talk you out of this? Ame can do without you, until we get a better idea of what's happening," he told her seriously. "I don't know what this is. I don't want to take unnecessary risks."

"I have to do something. Spending so much time just sitting around is tiring. Completing a quest sounds like a good way to pass time, and it's not even a hard one," Asuna moaned. "I don't want to sit still and wait to be released from this game."

Kirito frowned.

He wanted to allude back to the time they'd spent on the twenty-second floor in Aincrad, but he could see exactly where she was coming from. Unlike back there, where it depended upon them to help out in their way to return in the real world, here there was absolutely nothing they could do except wait for outside help that might not be coming yet. Another one of Kirito's worries related to their presence in ALO was that the NerveGear could still kill them if tempered with, because he had no way of knowing how and why the three hundred other players beside him and Asuna didn't wake up. Did the SAO rules still apply?

At first he'd thought that the players making out the three hundred were the players who had so far participated in a boss fight at least twice. The number would be a rough match, but with Amber confirming that Klein was awake, that theory was shot down harshly. Then he thought it might be because he and Asuna both used to be members of the Knights of Blood, a guild under Kayaba's avatar's lead, but he wasn't sure if the guild even had that many members.

However, he was glad that Klein was free from all this. Incredibly, uncontrollably relieved, too. But he was also apprehensive and no matter just how reasonable Amber's argument was, he still feared that Klein might end up here stranded with them. Any kind of logic that applied would support Amber's theory that it was impossible, but it wasn't the logic that had Kirito worried. It was the feeling akin to the one he felt whenever Asuna blinked out of existence for a brief moment. He feared that she would disappear from his hands without him being able to do anything to stop it. It was a fear that wouldn't leave him alone until it finally exhausted everything it could and made him as weak and fearful just as he feared he might become.

"I'll go," he told Asuna determinedly, vowing that he would not let it happen. "Ame better not have a problem about it."

"She won't. She was the one who offered in the first place," Asuna assured him.

"If that's so…" Kirito murmured.

"Let's go. She didn't say when specifically, but she hinted that she was already waiting. I'd suggest we go on foot, though, as the quest might require us to fly."

Kirito nodded in agreement.

Roughly over half an hour later they were at the clearing further in the north of the ring surrounding Arun and Ame was not the only one waiting for them.

She was sitting on a high rock that seemed strangely out of place on such a clearing with grass only, meaning that it probably had a purpose in the game. Sitting on the grass but leaned onto the rock, near her feet, was Sang and sitting on the grass opposite him was Tramp.

Ame was the first to notice them coming and she waved over. Tramp turned as well, but Sang had his eyes closed looking like he was taking a nap, so he didn't notice a thing.

"What are you doing here?" Asuna asked while looking at them in surprise, making him jump in surprise despite her question being focused on Tramp. "I thought it was going to be just the three of us."

"I thought so too," Ame agreed with a sigh. "Then I invited Tramp who turned out to be hanging with the Flaming Wolves, but apparently there was a fight going on so he wanted to leave. Then Sang also complained and decided to come, too. I couldn't say no, that would be mean."

"A fight?" Kirito echoed while his eyes met with Sang's. "I take it you don't mean the PvP kind, do you?"

"You could call it PvP all you like and it'd come pretty close," Sang replied, but dragged his words in the way that made him sound as though saying all that wasn't easy. Nevertheless, he explained, "Ichigo's been real nervous today and she got in a fight with Gill, which resulted in nothing, really. He logged out, Todoh then said it was useless as the four of us had no chance of winning as Tramp's way below us. Ichigo couldn't contact Amber at all, plus she was having an identity crisis and she said a lot more than I'd like to hear. It seems like she lost her job in the real world, then saw you left the guild and then Todoh started acting all righteous. Then Tramp and I decided to go and unintentionally rub it in, so I think she logged out and was pretty upset."

Guilt bubbled inside of Kirito. Suddenly he felt he should have left leaving the guild for another day, or perhaps avoided it at all possible costs. Ichigo never alluded to it, but he couldn't imagine her doing something she hated, so this had to have been a bitter pill to swallow. It all piled up, too.

"That… sounds really bad," he said, although the words fell bland even to him. "It's a good thing she logged out. Fighting under such circumstances can't be easy. It's better for you to have missed that tournament or whatever it is…"

"It's an unofficial guild-vs-guild conflict involving a number of high level players," Sang corrected him without missing a beat.

"High level _criminal_ players," Ame corrected him in turn. "You hardly see anybody other than fighting maniacs present there and I don't think that's a good thing. I can't believe you called _Tramp _of all people to go with you."

"Hey!" Tramp protested, but it went almost unnoticed as Sang started talking again.

"It's not that bad. Anyway, yeah, it's better we didn't participate. We'd just lose. I'm still worried about Ichigo, though. She seemed like she liked her job a lot."

"Do you know why she lost it?" Asuna asked as she gestured Ame to make some space to sit next to her on a rock. Ame moved until her her legs were practically touching Sang, then let Asuna sit.

"From what she said, it sounded like the boss had it out for her, but she didn't say anything solid. Still, that sucks either way," Sang informed them.

"Poor girl," Ame said with a sad grimace. "I can see why she'd take it badly. My mom lost a job once and she'd spent an entire evening crying."

Sang jumped to his feet, startling the Undine girl. "Change the subject! Depressive talk isn't something I'm good with. It's not like we can do much about this at the moment. Let's just finish this quest. You mentioned it's somewhere around here."

"Over there," Ame gestured towards the thick trees further in the north. "This rock had the map hidden under, but as I explored it already, we don't have to move it. The NPC is there, but it should take us around fifteen, maybe twenty minutes. It would be faster to fly, but since we'll have to fly during the quest, walking would be better."

They agreed and the girls rose to their feet, Tramp following them a second later. As they started walking, Kirito caught Tramp's look for a moment.

The Undine seemed strangely reserved for some reason, unlike his usual exuberant and open behavior. Actually, he'd been that way ever since their raid on the World Tree without really saying anything. Kirito wondered if he had a problem with him, but that didn't appear to be the case as Tramp looked more curious and thoughtful than anything else.

Whether it was just because of the general mood or something else, Kirito didn't understand. Asuna didn't pay much attention and neither did the rest of them so he figured they'd all gotten used to his changes in the mood by now, but it was still a notable change in a long list of things that happened today.

The time it took them to reach the place Ame had been talking about had been spent in senseless chitchat among Ame, Sang and occasionally Asuna, but for the most part it was not very cheerful. There was tension in the air, something Kirito had been used to back during SAO, but here it felt out of place. Relaxing was difficult in that kind of situation and the idle talk was nothing more than a scam to mask out the bad mood generally ruling over them.

Kirito knew why he didn't feel up to lightening the atmosphere and could somewhat understand Sang and Asuna, but so far he got the impression that Ame should have tried to brighten them up more. Or was it Tramp?

But they weren't even trying. It only helped increase the possibility of something going awfully wrong.

"There," Ame said, pointing at a single man standing at the edge of the woods. "I couldn't accept the quest the first time and I don't feel up to it now, so somebody else can go ahead and do it. We should also party as it's a quest that needs multiple players, from three to six. So who wants to challenge it?"

The party idea was accepted without much though, but as nobody volunteered to accept the quest aloud, Tramp shrugged and approached the NPC himself.

The information they got on the quest were pretty basic. Inside the forest there were several low-level mobs that attacked in sync, guarding some sort of a treasure. The treasure itself was not identified, but the way it was mentioned made it seem like something not of high worth, but important to this NPC and he was going to reward the party that brought it back. The reward extended to an increase in money, some raise in HP and MP, along with the EXP points. It didn't even seem hard. From the sound of it, the biggest problem was the number of the enemy mobs that they had to beat within twenty minutes, but Kirito was pretty sure the five of them would be able to do it.

Tramp pressed the accept button.

"Well, let's win," he said with a sigh. "I don't want to have to wait forty-eight hours to try again if we lose."

"Two days?" Asuna asked. "Why would you have to wait for two days?"

"There's a short field trip tomorrow. We're visiting some museums with school and all so I won't be home for most of the day. Then there's school on Monday and this, ummm, additional class I signed up for," he explained. "Anyway, I won't be logging in before ten at night and that's if I'm lucky."

"That's pretty long for an additional class," Ame pointed out.

"It's not. It's just two hours, thrice a week. It's just pretty far so it takes time for me to get there and back," Tramp defended, then gestured at the group to follow him. "Ugh, let's go. We already wasted thirty seconds."

Sang was the first to do so and the others joined quickly after.

While on the first look, the woods didn't look that remarkable, the moment you lost sight of the NPC, orienting became hard. Multiple times Kirito had to ask Tramp if they were going the right way. His first responses were one-word only, but the fourth time Kirito asked he seemed to grow annoyed and he explained that he had a map open.

Thinking it probably went for all of them, Kirito opened his own window, but unlike Tramp, he found only one temporary addition; a small field right under the ones displaying time in Alfheim and real world and it was displaying 17:21, indicating how much time they had left to successfully complete the quest. Then he caught sight of the real world time and his heart skipped a beat: 5:59 PM.

Before he could do so much as look in Asuna's direction, Tramp shouted, "There!"

'There' was a perfectly unfit substitute for 'here', as the mobs were apparently some kind of miniature dragon-like creatures resting on the tree branches everywhere around them. They also noticed them, if the way they stretched their wings and screeched was any sort of indication.

Still, Kirito didn't think much about that. As most of the group drew their weapons in quick motions, he remained with his own still in the sheath on his back not even giving it a thought.

"Asuna!" he called in warning.

She looked towards him in surprise just as the mobs descended upon them. She noticed that, too, so she swung her rapier to keep the closest one of them away without harm to her HP, but most of her focus was still on Kirito.

Then it happened; the thing Kirito had been both expecting and dreading. The cause of it was as much of a mystery to him the way it was when it first happened, as he didn't know what was going on, much less how to control it, stop it or generally affect it. Even if he'd tried, he was standing too far at the moment.

Asuna's form shimmered away. Only this time, she didn't come back.


	14. Chapter XIV

_"Let others lead small lives, but not you... Let others argue over small things, but not you... Let others cry over small hurts, but not you... Let others leave their future in someone else's hands, but not you."_

**_― Jim Rohn_**

**Link to Reality**

Chapter XIV

_November 16__th_

Ame didn't understand what just happened. Something had, she figured that much, as the very second the dragon-like monsters descended upon them she heard Kirito calling Asuna's name somewhere from behind her, but she was too busy trying to defend herself from the mobs going after her. They'd jumped from the trees and spread their wings, claws gnawing at her as fast as their low stats allowed them.

First and foremost, Ame wasn't a good melee fighter. Her weapon of choice was a lance that she knew how to use solely because, while she'd been a kid, she'd watched many different anime and tried to replicate the moves with a simple, too thin fruit tree branch. She didn't even remember of which fruit. That experience pushed her into making the lance her primary weapon of choice, not that her ability was amazing. Her stats were 403/1000, which was worse than even Tramp, while her MP had grown from 80 to 380 during the whole time she'd been playing ALO.

Using magic was one big advantage she had over others as listening and speaking was one thing she could do with no problem. She managed to repeat the spell words correctly after hearing them only once and that helped her abilities greatly, but she always considered magic to be a coward's way out and used it to increase her healing abilities and for learning several other uncommon and interesting spells.

In this case, when they were so far outnumbered, that wasn't the best thing.

She managed to slash through several monsters before a change caught her eye. From the gauges of her party members that had been visible from the moment they formed the party, Asuna's name was gone. Ame pondered on that for a moment as she swung her lance to dispatch yet another monster, but even if she'd died, her name shouldn't have disappeared.

Then she noticed Kirito's HP dropping rapidly. Out of his 477 HP, there were 140 points left and it was still dropping. That was worrying.

Ame frowned and cut through another monster before spinning to yell at Kirito about him being the weakest of them all, since she was pretty sure Asuna had mentioned that Kirito was _better_ than her and that girl was insanely good. Her complaint was just about to leave her lips when she saw him and the words got out in a senseless gibberish even she wouldn't be able to decipher.

Back where he'd been standing several moments ago, Kirito was now standing with his head bowed down and no regard for the three monsters slashing at him. Ame couldn't see his face completely, only one side of it, but even that much was enough for her to tell his lip was trembling, his sword not even drawn from the sheath on his back.

_What?_

Then she saw his HP falling below hundred and yelled, "KIRITO!"

_That_ got him to react. In a speed she wouldn't believe possible, he whipped his sword and in a single move cut through two of the attacking monsters. At that brief moment Ame felt incredibly relieved, as maybe the bad feeling she got was just her panic rising, but as he cut through the last of his attackers, Kirito stopped and opened the status window.

This time Ame could see his face.

Whether it was because he only now noticed how bad his HP was or for some other reason, unbeknownst to Ame, his eyes widened, lips parted slightly and eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. Then she saw another set of monsters coming after him and realized that for some reason, he didn't care at all. He didn't even appear to _see _them despite them coming from the front. Whatever he was looking at, it occupied his attention that much.

Dropping her lance and leaving her back entirely open to attack, Ame chanted the words of a quick healing spell in order to keep him alive so that she could be the one to trash him when he explained exactly why he was acting like an idiot.

"What's going on?" Sang asked as he slashed through several monsters that were heading to attack Ame from the side.

She was grateful, yes, but at the moment, her concern was on Kirito's weird behavior. And _what _just happened to Asuna, anyway? Did she log out and left them to get by on their own?

"He's suicidal!" Ame replied in frustration then gestured towards Kirito as she finished chanting, returning his HP to roughly 50 percent.

But the mobs were no longer attacking her and Sang. A bit further away, Tramp was dealing with a number of them so she didn't think it worth to call over for him and distract him, but the rest of them seemed to be focusing on Kirito precisely because he was both holding a weapon _and_ being completely useless. Or at least that was the way she saw it. Either way, it didn't make sense.

Kirito opened his mouth as though to whisper something, but over the screeching of the miniature dragons, Ame didn't hear what he said.

Then the dragons once again attacked him and Sang jumped ahead to get rid of them, stopping them right before they could have made even more damage.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Sang yelled at Kirito in frustration and Ame was pleased to say that it finally got a proper reaction out of the Spriggan.

He looked up, obviously not having expected to find Sang there, and he started stammering. This time Ame got closer so she'd be able to hear as well.

"We… we have to quit… the quest… Asuna… Asuna is gone…"

_Oh, so you finally noticed,_ was what Ame would have liked to say, but the look on his face and the way he said it suggested that he meant it in a far deeper sense. She was seriously starting to think he was just overreacting when his knees gave out from under him and his lip started trembling uncontrollably.

"What's going on?" Ame asked, for the first time actually feeling insecurity and panic due to his behavior. Something big had happened and she was either oblivious of the true meaning or she didn't even know what happened. Whichever it was, it was not a comforting feeling.

"I'm not sure. I don't get it," Sang said with a shake of his head. "Ame, something is wrong. We need to draw back."

Ame could see where he was coming from, but it seemed like a waste of time as they could still win. "_Why?_" she demanded. "This quest—"

"Asuna is gone," Sang interrupted her. "I don't think he means that figuratively."

Before Ame could do so much as open her mouth, a question laced with disbelief came from nobody else but Tramp.

"Asuna's _gone_?!"

Ame's head snapped to look towards him as he slashed towards the final monster before rejoining the three of them. He looked around in a rush, but there was no trace of her anywhere. That got Ame's full attention and she turned to Sang with a frown. She just knew there was a piece of puzzle there missing and she had to know what was going on.

"What do you mean, gone?" she demanded sharply. "I know her, so chances of her getting killed so quickly are impossible. She must've logged out or something—"

"Later," Sang interrupted her. "Tramp, help me get him out of here." He made a throwaway gesture towards Kirito before grabbing the Spriggan's numb arm. "I've seen him fight so I know this has to be bad. Ame, cover us."

Ame wanted to get in another complaint as Tramp joined Sang without a word and helped him get Kirito to stand up, but the screeching coming from somewhere behind her stopped her.

She wanted to ask when and how, as she'd been certain that they'd dispatched all of the dragons, but the things were back and for some reason Ame didn't think they'd re-spawned that fast, meaning that the only other alternative was, "Back up," she muttered.

This time, she didn't even try drawing her lance.

"Go faster!" she yelled at the guys and stepped in front of them protectively, her hands stretched ahead of her as she started chanting the words for an offensive spell of large scale. It was a long spell, unfortunately, one that she had learned solely because of its destructive power and the MP that would later remain would be roughly 12 from her current 349. It was too late, though, as she was way too close to them, but damn it all if she gave up now.

The red ball blasted from her hands hit the first incoming dragon and the explosion that erupted on impact blasted away all of the creatures, scorched several trees and sent Ame flying backwards while her HP dropped from 590 points to 280. The explosion sent her flying back to the point where she almost caught up with the guys before she fell flat on her back. Her eyes having been shut the whole time, she opened them to look up at the early sunrise sky and, in relief that she was still alive, she started chuckling.

"Whoa, just what was that?" Tramp asked, hovering over her, having activated his wings without her noticing, but Ame didn't respond right away. She just continued chuckling.

"O-oy—"

"Sorry," she said with a laugh. "I just always wanted to that. Feels amazing."

"You're crazy," he said with a shake of his head as he offered her his hand to get up. She accepted it, then activated her own wings and they flew over to where Sang and Kirito were. The moment she saw them, most of her good mood evaporated immediately.

"What's going on?" Ame asked with a concerned look in Kirito's direction. "His HP is red, I thought he was better than this. And these were the weak mobs—"

"Ame, shut up."

Ame's mouth shut, surprising her just as much as Tramp. Having heard something so sharp coming from nobody else but him, she wasn't sure how else to react. The seriousness of the situation hit her completely once she saw the look on his face: pained, conflicted, worried. Nothing like him at all.

"You said Asuna is gone?" Tramp repeated in a voice that simply fit neither his avatar's appearance nor his general way of talking. He was looking over at Sang and Ame swallowed while waiting for him to respond. That suddenly seemed like a pretty bad thing.

"Kirito said that first," Sang replied. "I… didn't see how it happened. I thought she might've been killed off, as unlikely as it seems, but there was no Remain Light anywhere. But she's gone from my party list."

"That means she's not dead," Tramp said, his voice sounding relieved. "But it means she's no longer in the party. Any chance she might've logged out or got logged out by somebody else?"

"Impossible," Ame replied instantly, forgetting that she was the first one to think of it. "This isn't a safe zone. Her avatar would stay even if she were gone. And her name _wouldn't_ disappear from the party list. So what is going on?"

The three of them exchanged concerned looks. Tramp bit his lip but didn't say a word. He shut his eyes and it was easy to assume it was because of worry, rather than the true reason. Still, Ame thought there was something else going on here that he wasn't mentioning. Then the three of them all turned over to look at Kirito, who looked like his connection to the virtual world was lagging.

"I… I might have an idea," Tramp said as he swallowed a large lump in his throat.

Ame looked towards him in surprise, but he looked towards Kirito with his fists tightening and courage gathering. He walked over to him and Kirito looked up to face him, but he hardly seemed to be in the mood to care about Tramp trying to strike a conversation.

Ame was half-expecting Tramp to do something stupid like punch him and blame him for what happened, as she would normally expect it to be something harsh and utterly useless in an unclear and confusing situation, but he surprised her. He crouched before Kirito and asked in clearly impatient voice the question that Ame would have never thought of as important.

"You saw it, right? Did she get swallowed by flames? Or just… you know, disappeared?"

At that question, life seemed to return to Kirito, as he shook his head, completely rectifying the notion of his internet connection lagging.

"More like… she logged out," he said, voice flat and completely robbed of definite emotion. "But she didn't."

"I don't get it," Ame said uncomprehendingly. "Asuna wouldn't log out like that. She _didn't_. Her avatar was gone. It leaves either in-game death or forceful transfer by the GMs, the former impossible because there was no Remain Light and her HP never left the green, which leaves…" she stopped talking at that point as the notion of the GM forcefully transporting her anywhere completely lacked any possible cause or logic.

Kirito took a shaky breath that might as well have been sniff. "I-it's been happening… every hour," he said. "It started at one exactly. She'd just… disappear in the light for a moment, but then she'd be back. It repeated… every hour… till now."

"So does that mean she's out of the game?" Tramp asked uncertainly. "Because if yes, that's good. I'd even say finally, if it weren't for the fact she might not be coming back, but still…"

Ame wanted to know exactly how that could possibly be a good thing and looking over at Sang she realized he shared her opinion on the matter.

"I… I don't think that happened," Kirito said, his voice slowly returning to his normal one and instead of kneeling, he simply shifted his position that he was now sitting on the grass with his elbows leaned against his knees. Then he looked up at Tramp strangely for a moment, as if trying to deduce something.

"… So she told you?" he asked uncertainly.

"You have a problem with that?"

"Eh? No—!" Kirito seemed to realize his answer didn't quite match his voice and he shook his head quickly. "I mean, she didn't tell me she'd told you, but she mentioned she might."

"She promised," Tramp shrugged as if it explained everything. "Anyway, isn't this a good thing, then? Why did you react that way? I swear, I knew you were weird, but that was a bit much."

"I…" Kirito didn't seem to have a proper answer for the moment and he frowned. "I might have overreacted for a moment there," he admitted. "It feels wrong, though. Something is wrong. Her account is there, but it's more like it isn't and I don't mean in the log-out sense."

"Okay, rewind," Ame interjected, having grown tired of being excluded from the mind-boggling conversation. "What the hell are the two of you talking about?"

Kirito and Tramp both regarded her with similar looks of astonishment, almost as if they'd forgotten about her and Sang being present. She was hardly satisfied with that and they'd both frozen, looking like getting a single word out of them was going to be mission impossible.

Finally, it was Sang who spoke, although for a moment Ame wanted to tell him that they should be the ones to talk. She changed her mind quickly.

"If… if I got this right, you're not talking just about an in-game issue," he said hesitantly, his eyebrows merging together while he frowned in thought. "You also said one… that whatever had happened to Asuna started at one today, but you weren't supposed to be logged in then. I know that. You were the one who said it. But okay, that. And logged in for six hours straight is too long. From this I also get that Asuna _couldn't_ log out…" at that point, his eyes widened.

Ame didn't quite understand what he was trying to say with it, but as he said that, Kirito seemed to nod in agreement. Then he stood up and beckoned Ame and Sang to get closer.

They exchanged an uncertain look and Ame was the first to approach, leaning to look over his left shoulder while Sang came at the right.

"Look at this," he told them quietly as he opened his status window, made it clearly visible to them, rather than the distorted image they would normally see if they'd tried to look on their own, then scrolled to the bottom of the menu. Ame blinked at the small sign in the corner indicating that he had an unread message.

"Hey, you have an IM," she told him, but he shook his head. His finger reached towards the log out button and Ame's hand grabbed his wrist a moment before he could touch it.

"You're not going anywhere yet," she said warningly, but his response was a half smile with no mirth in it whatsoever.

"I'm not," he assured her, then proceeded to push the button.

The System Error message that popped up a moment later was the last thing Ame was expecting to see, along with being another one in the long list of things that didn't make any sense. Ame blinked in confusion, but it was Sang's reaction that confused her even more.

His intake of breath was sharp and he immediately took a step back from Kirito, allowing the Spriggan to turn around and face them.

"How long have you been getting that message?" Sang asked in a strangled voice, but from that Ame could see he already had a pretty good guess. Nonetheless, Kirito answered.

"November seventh… Since SAO officially ended."

For a moment, Ame felt like laughing. The very thought seemed incredibly stupid and impossible and laughing was exactly what she would have done if she hadn't noticed the oddities before or if she hadn't seen that error message just now. She understood what Kirito was trying to say with that vague sentence and from the look on Sang's face, he understood it even better. But while he was momentarily shocked, the missing puzzle Ame had been thinking about was put in place.

"And Asuna, too," she said. Then she looked at Tramp accusingly. "And you knew it."

He didn't try to deny it, instead just gave her a look that only confirmed her accusation. That part must have bothered her more than anything else she'd learned today. It bothered her more than anything else that had happened to her for the past month.

"How long? Why?" she asked. Then, after a beat, almost tearfully, "Why did you lock me out? Why didn't you tell me, too?"

Tramp flinched as a tear slid down Ame's cheek, but she wiped it away quickly. He seemed to be stumbling to find the right words as he tried to explain.

"I… I got Asuna to promise me she'd, uh, explain some things I was worried about," Tramp replied uneasily, not daring to face her. "I'm sorry, honestly. At first I didn't really care about telling you, but after she told me… I wanted to. Asuna said to wait a bit more, I don't get it why, but I promised, so… I'm really sorry." He looked down in the ground miserably and Ame's face softened, but something inside of her still ached.

"I see," she mumbled, the hurt not at all gone from her voice. "I guess I'll have to take it out on her, later. But like you said, this shouldn't be a problem. If Asuna's gone, that means she has to be back to real world, no?"

Kirito shook his head, taking her by surprise yet again. "It wasn't a simple log out. That wouldn't erase her name from the party." Then something seemed to occur to him. "It never worked in a safe zone! I—I think somebody with low admin privileges transported her somewhere. But even doing that would take time and removing her from the party would take time—" he cut off there as he seemed to think of another thing.

Then he opened his status window in a rush and his face changed from relatively relieved to moderately confused and generally uncomprehending.

"A bird cage?" Kirito mouthed, but the deathly silence around them made it audible to everyone present. He then looked up at the others with a frown and repeated louder, "That… that message I got was from her. She… she says she's in some kind of a bird cage…?"

"A quest?" Ame asked instantly.

Kirito shook his head. "She'd have to accept first. She didn't do that. But a bird cage…? That sounds strangely familiar…"

"Yeah, almost like—"

Sang's attempt at speaking was interrupted when Kirito's face punched his palm. "A bird cage," he repeated. "_The_ bird cage."

"That doesn't make sense," Ame said as she got the reference. "What would she be doing at the World Tree?"

"I don't know," Kirito said honestly. "The World Tree… I see how it could be both good and bad and I want her to get out of the game. If somebody deserved it, it's Asuna, but I still get this feeling that something is wrong."

"I learned to trust my in-game gut feelings," Sang said casually, speaking for the first time since they'd learned the odd circumstance behind Kirito and Asuna's presence. Ame had been expecting him to take it differently, perhaps act more angry or surprised, but his voice now sounded as though Kirito hadn't said a thing. "I think somebody even called it an Outside System Skill, Hypersense, but I'm pretty sure that doesn't apply in this case. Still, we should do something."

"Like what?" Ame asked sarcastically. "Storm the World Tree?"

She realized she might have made a mistake when three guys leveled her with a look that indicated that her sarcasm had gone mostly unnoticed.

"No," she moaned. "Just _no. _You remember how that ended. And it's just the four of us now, we don't stand a chance."

"Not the way we tried before," Kirito agreed with her. "But maybe challenging it the right way… That might work."

"God, you're crazy," Ame moaned.

"Are you in or not?" Tramp asked. "Because I'm going."

"It's not going to work, I just know it," she insisted.

But the look she got from them told just as much as she could have guessed the moment she said it. It didn't matter how low their chances were. The three of them were going to do it and she better be coming along.

Finally, she nodded. "Yeah, I'm going along."

For the first time she thought she'd seen Kirito smiling sincerely at somebody else but Asuna.

"Thank you," he said, but she shook his head.

"She's my friend. So whatever is going on, I'm going to bail her out. And _then_ I'm going to rant. A lot."

* * *

Asuna was pissed.

The moment she first found herself in the strangely closed space, she was surprised. She'd been expecting for Kirito to start getting worried about whatever was going on to her yet _again_, but when she lost sight of him a moment later, she'd been briefly panicked. Then she'd got confused at the change in her surroundings. And then, finally, she got angry.

For some reason, the rapier that had been in her hand moments ago was gone. She tried to open her status menu and get her weapon back, but for some reason her access to the items was locked away. She tried twice and nothing happened, so she quickly continued to explore the rest of her menu.

Her access to her stats then disappeared as well and she was beginning to panic. As a last attempt in defiance, she'd opened her message window and typed out the best she could, «I'm in a birdcage! What's happening?»

As she started picking out the receivers, a small info pop-up appeared to tell her the window will be closing in five seconds and she managed to add Kirito and Amber's names only and send it, right before the window was gone.

When she tried to open the menu again, nothing happened. She tried a few more times, attempting to access even her wings, but nothing happened.

"What's going on?" Asuna asked, then looked around her as her breathing rate increased.

The quick look she'd taken earlier had her thinking she was in an oversized bird cage, but looking around now, she was starting to wonder about it. Did bird cages usually have an enormously large bed inside? And what about a dining table and chairs? Asuna didn't think so, so this confused her quite a bit to the point where she simply didn't understand what was happening.

She walked over towards what seemed like a door and tried to push them open, but nothing happened. Right next to the door was a small device she'd seen in movies, one that would typically require a password in order to open the door, but instead of numbers from zero to nine, this one had numbers going up to twelve and several more buttons she didn't understand the purpose of.

"Is this a joke?" she asked to the empty air.

Then she looked around the room again and decided to sit at the corner of the bed with her arms crossed.

Neither Kirito nor Amber answered to her message, but Asuna had the presence of mind to understand that, if she was locked from sending them, then she was likely to be locked from receiving them as well. But that didn't make any sense. Why? Was this some kind of a prison? Did she break some harassment code or stepped on a wrong place? Did it have something to do with her blinking-out, as Kirito had explained it, which had been happening every hour without her being aware of it?

Then she looked up to see somebody approaching from the outside.

Asuna was surprised, as unlike the other people she'd seen in ALfheim so far, this one didn't seem to have the pointed ears or anything resembling wings. Instead, the man appeared to be older, probably in early forties and dressed in a dull lab coat while carrying a tray with him.

He stopped walking, his eyes locking with Asuna's for a moment before he pushed the tray through the space between the bars.

"Your meal," he said with a yawn before turning to walk away.

Asuna jumped in panic.

"H-hey!" She shouted after him. "What's going on?! Where am I? Why did you send me here?"

"… Just be a good little girl and sit tight," he told her without even looking back. "Boss should be showing up in few days. What he wants with you, I've no idea."

Then he walked away without looking back.

Asuna stood stunned, her hands gripping the bars so strong that she was hoping she'd manage to bend them. She wanted to shout in protest. In the end, that's exactly what she'd done. She'd yelled and complained and demanded to be released, but nothing happened. Eventually, she gave up.

Wherever she was, there was nobody willing to listen; there was nobody to hear her at all. Even as she accepted that, Asuna felt strangely calm. There was no doubt in her mind in what she had to do. That this was an action from somebody on the outside, that much was clear. But this—waiting for a few days and calling somebody boss, generally looking overworked and uninterested reminded her of the people she'd seen working with her father. She didn't recognize this person, but she recognized that their compassion and sympathy was not something she was going to get, nor did they care about what happened to her at all. She even wondered whether they knew who she was, not that it mattered right now.

All that left a single road for her to take. She needed to get out.

The only question was, how?

* * *

"Look, I understand you want to do something right away, but calm down. We need to wait Ame's MP and your HP to recover before doing anything."

Kirito knew that Sang's words were correct and that he had every right to speak, but his impatience was getting the better of him. The bad condition of his HP had been largely fixed by Ame even before they returned to Arun, but that had exhausted her Mana Points entirely. She'd grinned, saying that all that experience increased it by two more points, but at this rate Kirito could see those two points as only additional time to delay them before heading to find Asuna.

At the moment, they were sitting in a clamoring pub in the center of Arun, very close to the entrance that lead inside the trunk of the World Tree, but Kirito's HP had yet to reach hundred percent and from the last he'd heard, Ame's MP was still roughly around sixty percent filled. At this rate, as Sang had eloquently put it, raiding the World Tree would be yet another epic fail.

Kirito knew that. He was just at the point where he couldn't bring himself to care very much. The short time it had taken him to pull himself together after Asuna initially disappeared was yet another thing that bothered him. The first thing he'd thought was that she was free. The second one was that she was dead. Neither of them made much sense when he tried to look at it from an objective point of view, but it wasn't until he noticed that message she sent that things started getting really confusing.

Ame had asked many times on their way back to Arun what would be the purpose of trying to free Asuna if she was somewhere at the World Tree, but Kirito didn't know. He just knew that he didn't like this and that whenever he'd tried sending a message, he received a pop-up that said the recipient was unavailable. He knew from experience as he'd sent a message to Amber, who was logged out, that even in such cases the message would arrive exactly where it should. It would only take the time for the player to open it.

The most he could come up with in this case was that somebody was purposely keeping Asuna away from contacting other players, but the reason why still eluded him.

"We have to do it now," he insisted. "I don't know how hard it might be, but if you're not going to come, I'm going alone."

"Sit back down," Sang hissed and pushed him back just as Kirito tried to stand. "Look, I can't understand what's going through your head and I won't even try, but what you're intending to do is suicide. Do you have any idea what will happen if you die?" and in lower voice, "Do you think there's a chance for you to die for real?"

Kirito balled his fists at the table and his shoulders tensed. "I don't know," he bit out. "I might go back to Spriggan district. I might set myself free. NerveGear might fry my brain. I don't know."

"Then don't risk it without your HP gauge full," Sang reasoned. "And I'm calling for back up, too. I'll send an IM to Amber, Gill and Todoh, see if they want to help. It's around ten PM in the real world now so they'll probably be here, but I'd suggest waiting for tomorrow before we go."

"Yeah," Tramp agreed. "I'll call in, say that I'm sick or something, so I'll be able to stay logged in for tomorrow."

"Easy for you to say," Kirito mumbled in his chin. But then he shook his head. "I already sent a message to Amber. She knows about this and Asuna asked her for a favor earlier today, but she still didn't log in yet. As for calling Gill and Todoh… do what you want. I just… I don't know how I'll be able to ignore that door the whole night."

"I understand," Sang said with a sigh. "But going in rashly might seriously kill you. Aren't you…"

"Afraid?" Kirito asked in low voice as Sang didn't finish his question.

"Well, yeah," Tramp muttered. "I know I'd be wary in the least…"

"No, I'm not afraid," Kirito told them honestly. "What happens to me… I stopped worrying about that a long time ago. But I won't let anything harm Asuna, no matter what happens to me."

Sang and Tramp exchanged a look that made it obvious they didn't know what to say to that. Kirito couldn't blame them, as they both looked to be out of their depth in this, coming up with ideas and thoughts on a whim and were still obviously bothered by the idea of the player sitting in front of them being one of the infamous SAO players. Seeing how they were handling it, Kirito figured it was a good thing he didn't mention that he and Asuna were technically considered to be the ones who officially won the death game.

The tense silence that ruled over them lasted for several dark seconds before Tramp turned to Ame, who'd been ignoring their conversation for the most part during the last fifteen minutes.

"And just what are you doing?" he asked.

"Spreading rumors," the girl replied snappily, with a pout as her fingers continued flying over the virtual keyboard.

Kirito, who'd just taken a sip of the drink he'd ordered, nearly choked.

"W-what?!" Tramp spluttered in surprise. "You can't find a better moment but to do that now?!"

Ame frowned, then dismissed the keyboard and closed all the windows that had been opened in front of her. "Am I the only one seeing something wrong with this?" she asked.

As Tramp looked towards Kirito and Sang in confusion, she continued, "Look, Kirito, I know you said you asked Amber to contact somebody who could get you out from the other side, but this is important. What if somebody had done it on purpose?"

At that, Kirito nodded slowly. "I've been thinking the same thing. I… I just never had a way of confirming it."

"Well, let's assume it's already been confirmed," Ame said. "Then even if Amber managed to do what you asked from her, this person might still be unable to get you out. They might get stopped by the ones who want you here. There are also three hundred other players somewhere in ALO and there has to be a reason for that. A bug doesn't make sense. So I've been thinking, if somebody was doing this on purpose, what was the best way to counter it?"

The three guys exchanged looks.

"Keep a low profile?" Kirito offered.

"Tell everyone what the problem is," Sang countered with a glare in Kirito's direction.

"Or you know, just do what the two of them did?" Tramp offered.

Ame grimaced. "_No._ That wouldn't work at all. Keeping a low profile doesn't help you if you don't even know what you're hiding from. Telling everyone is bound to attract attention from the bad guys long before the good ones and what might happen is exactly what happened to Asuna now – you get isolated from other players. Then nobody can confirm whether you told the truth or not, and quite frankly, most people wouldn't care that much. And that's where rumors come in."

Kirito's lips opened in surprise. "I see. You can't trace a rumor. So long as you don't reveal any names, telling everybody that you heard that three hundred SAO players are trapped in ALO is going to cause quite a stir. Why didn't I think of that before?"

"Because you're an idiot," Ame said jokingly, before she proceeded to explain, "But it wouldn't work if just anyone tried it. It might work if I do it, as I have many friends in game and I just sent that to about a fifty of them. I specifically told them to spread it around as apparently these players don't have any access to outside world… Basically, what I said is the truth. I omitted the names and anything that might point to you or Asuna, but I also listed everything that made it possible, including some really weird theories that aren't exactly true from what you've told me. Either way, by tomorrow night, everyone in ALO should know it and let's see the bad guys try to suffocate that. After all, there were some rumors about this on forums, but they would all get erased within a few hours. This is bound to attract attention of everyone, the other SAO players, the bad guys and the authorities. The best of all, they can't shut the whole game down if they want to keep the suspicion away from them. It's a win-win, don't you think?"

"You have got to be kidding," Tramp said, his voice sounding something between amazed and incredulous.

"It's smart," Kirito told Ame in honest appreciation. "Tracing it back to you would be incredibly difficult, as you could always say you heard it from somebody else."

"I just don't see how that helps us get Asuna back," Tramp pointed out.

"It doesn't," Ame said with a grimace. "But it's not meant to, either. Let's just call it a safety net in case we fail tomorrow. By then everyone should know and throwing in Asuna's name might actually help, though I'd rather not do it. By then, let's hope we got the attention of some people who might be able to do something."

"That might take a while." Sang traced the edge of the table with his finger as he frowned in thought. "If nothing happens by then, it means our safety net is also gone. And what do we have then?"

Several seconds passed as everyone pondered on that question. Then, as if simultaneously, they seemed to come to a same conclusion.

"Amber."

* * *

_November 17__th_

Klein would like to say that his trip to Arun had gone without much delay. The truth was far more complicated, however.

He'd got some basic online instructions before he logged in, just enough to explain him little bit on the roles of the races and some of the basic functions, so he knew what he was getting into when he chose the Salamanders as his race. Well, at least technically so. Things got a bit confusing when he actually logged in and found himself in the middle of the Salamander hometown, Grattan.

First of all, his stats were all wrong. It took some time until it occurred to him that his stats were exactly the same as back in SAO, only his HP and MP being at a starter's level. That was weird. It also had him briefly panicking and searching for the log out button in a rush. He actually had logged out, just to make sure he could really do it.

After that he'd called most of the people who'd made out his guild Fuurinkazan back during SAO, told them not to come over as he was going for a rescue mission to get the other players out. Most of them were interested to help and Klein would have agreed to have them come, if he didn't know about other issues they had. Getting back on their feet for one, then also getting their jobs back, paying rents and all the other things they couldn't have done during their two-year-long adventure in SAO. Klein had it easy for now, but not everyone was so lucky.

So he'd logged back in and decided he'd log out in several hours to get something to eat shortly, then go on his way to Arun. It was a pretty simple plan that he shouldn't have been able to mess up, but still he'd managed.

Not twenty minutes after logging in, he was trying out the flight engine. The feeling was as amazing as it could get, but it didn't help him when it came to landing. It got him in an argument with several other Salamander players and he was too stubborn to pay for their drinks as he'd already apologized. It didn't quite turn into a fight, but it came pretty close. One of them, some guy named Kagemune, was reasonable enough to let him go, but warn him not to show his face around again. Klein didn't care that much as his priority was getting to Kirito and Asuna, but it was still frustrating that he was being ordered around.

Now, hours and hours later, he was pretty sure he shouldn't have just walked away.

The three Salamanders he'd pissed off, sans that Kagemune guy, turned out to be some pretty nasty players and they'd tried to corner him somewhere in the desert, but that hadn't gone over well. During the rush and the panic, Klein wasn't even sure how he'd done it, but he managed to get a hang of this thing called voluntary flight, which helped him out a lot.

The problem now, though, was that he was lost in some sort of a forest. The Salamanders were still after him, in the thick woods he'd lost sight of the World Tree that was supposed to be his pointer, Amber hadn't accepted his friend request, let alone answered his many questions and he was pretty sure that he had at some point gotten lost even before losing sight of the Tree. He doubted the Salamander territory was supposed to have the desert _and_ forest theme. Oh, and worst of all, his wings wouldn't activate at all. He'd learned that the amount of time he was allowed to fly was strictly limited and it took twice as long for the wings to recover. Amber could've mentioned that tidbit earlier.

Anyway, he had no doubt that now he'd be able to face the Salamanders head on and win as their wings had gotten exhausted as well, but the problem was, sometime during his insane flying, he'd lost them, too.

Standing in the middle of the thick forest he sighed and checked out the watch which told him that it was thirty minutes past midnight.

"Five more minutes and my wings are back," he muttered. Then he might be able to fly up and get the chance to see the World Tree again, see how far he'd strayed.

Then he thought he heard something coming from somewhere on his right. Klein didn't think about it much, just broke into a run.

Shortly after, he found himself standing right behind the two Salamanders who'd been chasing him earlier, only this time they were cornering a blond-haired girl dressed in green-white clothes with a katana drawn out in defense. Two Remain Lights, or at least Klein thought that was what the two tiny flames floating in the air should be, flickered right behind the Salamanders, one red and one green, but the red one disappeared a moment after Klein noticed it. That had to be the third missing Salamander.

The Sylph girl noticed Klein before the Salamanders did and the look in her eyes got even angrier.

"Now, give up all your money and equipment. _Do it_," said the Salamander on the left, with long hair tied in a braid that reached a bit under his shoulder blades.

"Forget it!" the Sylph girl snapped in return. "I'm not going to let you stop me!"

She then leaped to attack and her katana clashed with the Salamander's longsword. A second before the other Salamander moved to attack her from behind, Klein moved.

He intercepted the attack to the best of his ability, reasoning that if this was the only way to convince her that he wasn't an enemy, then why ever not? He didn't like the thought of being pushed in the same box as these two who were obviously members of a criminal guild.

"Damn you!" the player yelled, but Klein was fast. Before he could really understand what happened, Klein attacked with a one-hit Katana special skill he'd learned during SAO, «Ukifune», throwing his opponent away with enough strength and causing enough damage so that only one other strike was all it would take for him to win.

The lack of Sword Skills in ALfheim didn't bother him nearly as much as he thought it would, especially as when his body fell into motion, he _remembered _exactly the way the attack was supposed to go. Even the lag time after that, which now he should be able to bypass, was another thing he could replicate with no problem.

It was strange. Not exactly bad, but the lack of system assist helped him feel like he was finally fighting on his own terms, which Klein supposed was a good thing. The katana he'd bought from an NPC vendor could use some upgrading, though.

The Salamander lurched at Klein again, obviously badly affected by his imminent defeat, but Klein didn't feel like making this battle last any longer.

With a swing that came more from instinct than experience, he disarmed the Salamander and told him in his best dangerous voice, "Are you going to give up or should I finish?"

Not all that willingly, the Salamander scowled. "Che. I'll get you back for this."

"Whatever," Klein grumbled as the Salamander and he both turned to the other side, where the battle between the Sylph girl and his colleague was still going.

The Sylph girl was doing her best to stand her ground against Salamander number one and she had the advantage of speed and agility, but the Salamander had the great advantage of size and strength. So while she succeeded getting in some consecutive hits, one of his successful slashes did just as much as several of hers.

"Man, two of you attacking a girl, isn't that a bit much?" Klein asked.

"Oh, so you're back?" the Salamander hissed back as he blocked yet another one of girl's quick slashes, then turned to look at Klein. "What? Can't keep your nose out of somebody else's business?"

The Sylph girl used the moment of his distraction to launch her counter attack. Pushing his sword on the other side, she quickly made several quick slashes where his avatar wasn't under protection of the armor. She then made a quick and rather cruel stab right where his collarbone should be.

Three seconds later, the Salamander was engulfed in crimson flames with a very strange look on his face.

Klein was very close to congratulating her on such a quick victory, when a second before he could do it, her weapon got pointed at his throat.

The Salamander, who'd wisely given up, sniggered as Klein's arms both lifted high in the air in surrender.

"H-hey, can't we talk about this?" he stuttered.

"No! I've grown tired of you Salamanders trying to act like this forest is all yours! This is the Sylph territory, so get used to it! We're the ones in charge here!"

"Fiery," the Salamander continued sniggered, dragging the Sylph girl's attention to himself. Klein's shoulders sagged and he felt relieved when she re-aimed her katana at him.

"Get out of my way!" she yelled. "Now!"

Apparently, the Salamander noticed the same thing as Klein and once again he'd chosen the smarter course of action, picked up his weapon and ran off into the forest, leaving Klein alone with the girl.

"I saw what you did there, but I'm not going to thank you, if that's what you're waiting on," she told Klein, but this time without pointing her weapon at him.

"Eh? What? No!" he said quickly with a shake of his head. "Actually, those guys were chasing me just some minutes ago so, yeah, sorry about dragging them your way."

At that, the girl appeared to be rather confused. "They were after you? Aren't you one of them?"

Klein scratched the back of his head. "Actually, I got on their bad side earlier. Plus, I didn't want to stick around in Grattan, so I guess they had it out for me."

"Oh, well, that settles it," she said in significantly calmer voice. "Although, it still doesn't explain what you're doing all the way here."

"Err—I got lost."

The girl blinked. "You… got lost?"

"I was actually heading to the World Tree, you see. There's an old friend of mine waiting for me there. But then my flight engine got exhausted and I got lost. I think that about covers it," he admitted sheepishly.

At that, she flinched and her eyes widened. "You mean Arun? You're going there?"

"Yeah… Why?"

She shook her head quickly. "No, nothing." But she looked troubled for a moment. Then she added, "I… I was heading there, as well, so if you don't know the way, I guess…"

"Oh, so you wanna party up? That sounds pretty good," Klein told her honestly. "I'm pretty new, so I guess it would be good if I could ask you for help on some things along the way. What's your name?"

She looked at him hesitantly, before offering her hand. "I'm Leafa."

Klein accepted it with a grin. "I'm Klein. So let's work hard, eh?"

She nodded, but didn't smile. "I'm in a hurry, actually. I'm following some pretty flimsy and questionable rumors, but… I don't have anything better now. So you better not slow me down."

"Well, I was intending on pulling an all-nighter, to be honest—"

"That's good. Can you fly without a controller?"

"I think. I've done it before, but I've no idea how. Actually, my wings are back now. We could go right away."

For the first time, the Sylph girl, Leafa, did crack a smile. It was tiny and hardly noticeable, but enough to leave Klein a little dazed. She broke him out of it quickly enough, saying, "Good enough."

She sent a party request which he accepted in the matter of a moment and the gauge with her name appeared right under Klein's.

"Now let's go," she said.

He didn't have any immediate objections.


	15. Chapter XV

_Wait, it's just about to break, its more than I can take__  
__Everything's about to change__  
__I feel it in my veins, its not going away__  
__Everything's about to change_

—_**Thousand Foot Krutch, War of Change**_

**Link to Reality**

Chapter XV

_November 17__th_

Arun was a large town, relatively speaking. In terms of the surface, it was the largest of them all, but in terms of populace—not the NPC but the real, player populace—it wasn't that remarkable at all.

As he sat at the top of a roof of some building, Kirito couldn't quite remember which, he wondered why that was so. Reaching Arun was definitely an adventure in itself and he was certain, that if he had gone on his own from the start, it might have taken him two days at most, counting in the time for sleep and the time needed for his wings to rest as the time he didn't move at all. There was risk of running onto renegade players and some nasty mobs (as Sang had once told him), yes, but was that indeed all? Kirito didn't quite understand why there weren't many players around.

Arun was beautiful. Not in the glamorous beauty of a rich town, but something of a calmer, more subdued yet grand variety. The NPCs definitely made up for the lack of players to the point where it wouldn't be very obvious, but to Kirito it was plain. Perhaps it was because his experience during SAO enabled him to tell a NPC from the real player in the blink of an eye, or maybe because he'd been paying too much attention. It could very well be the latter, too.

Dismissing the notion, Kirito looked up.

Somewhere above him, far, far above him, was Asuna, trapped with no way of contacting him.

Kirito wondered if he was doing the right thing. Perhaps she was already safe. Perhaps she was finally free from the confinement in the virtual world. Or maybe that was just what he was hoping for. He couldn't tell. Many conflicting thought clashed, some of them accusing him of trying to get Asuna only because he didn't want to stay in this world alone, others rushing him to fly up there and get her out, no matter what caused that transportation in the first place.

Kirito had chosen to act. He'd chosen that when Kayaba first made it clear that SAO was the game of death. He'd chosen to act when he'd found himself trapped in yet another virtual world. Always, he'd chosen acting over sitting passively and waiting for somebody's help. Always, he'd preferred to do things, then deal with the consequences. Now, for the first time, he felt as though he was hesitating.

Sound of a received message distracted him and Kirito opened the small window, a part of him hoping Asuna had somehow managed to get a message to him, but his hope died down a little when he saw another name.

«What happened?» the message said.

Kirito didn't reply.

As the message was coming from Amber, he figured he could let her know face-to-face. It was better than sending the message at either rate and she'd naturally be confused as the message he'd sent her the previous day consisted of several words only, none of which detailed what happened to Asuna. Who knows what Amber could be thinking now.

Activating his wings, he left the rooftop and, after merely several seconds of flight, landed right in front of the entrance to the inn where his (and formerly Asuna's) room was.

The doors were opening and a dark-haired Leprechaun girl was walking out, but as she was looking somewhere behind her, she nearly crashed straight into Kirito.

Her head turned in slow motion and at the last second she stopped with an abrupt scream.

Kirito raised an eyebrow as she put her hand over her heart and started taking in deep gulps of air in panic.

"You scared me! Don't do that!" she yelled as she calmed down a bit.

"I didn't think you were a type to get scared easily," Kirito told her honestly, with no trace of light mood in his voice, even though he was trying to say it as a joke.

Amber shook her head slowly. "I'm not, normally. But when somebody isn't there one moment and is the in next, that freaks me out."

"Sorry."

"Never mind. Sorry for not logging in earlier. I was with Ha—err, Ichigo. She's having some RL problems and all," she bowed her head apologetically.

"Is she all right?" Kirito asked. "I heard she lost her job."

"There's that, too," Amber said while rolling her eyes in exasperation. "Anyway, it's pretty rough time for her right now, so I don't think she'll be showing up for a while. Anyway, what's going on? You sent this weird, 'we've got a problem' message and Asuna sent something about being stuck in a bird cage. I figured it was something urgent, but I also thought it'd be settled by now. So, what happened?"

The look on Kirito's face got gloomier as he recounted the events from the day before. Amber listened without interrupting, until he finally asked her the question that had been bugging him the most.

"Do you think her brother might have had a hand in that? Trying to log her out by unconventional methods?"

For a moment, Amber looked thoughtful, but then she shook her head. "No. At least, I don't think so. Why would he? He actually gave me a message to send her, too, but as she isn't around, I'll tell you. He said that he'd get you out in seventy-two hours. All of you."

"Three days?" Kirito asked as hope surged from within. That… was actually some good news. If it was only that long, then maybe…

"Bit less now, as he told me that yesterday," Amber smiled. "But I don't think he would have isolated Asuna because of that. He didn't even ask me much about her, just how she was holding up. I don't know how good judge of a character I am, but he seemed equally determined to get you all out, not just her."

Kirito couldn't hide his relief as he nodded. "It's been a long time since I heard some good news. Maybe I shouldn't…" the thought was plausible, but it was sitting wrong with him. By what Amber just told him, it meant that Asuna wasn't logged out and that her presence in the cage might mean something else entirely. Even if not of much help, he still thought he should get her out of there.

"Kirito?"

He looked up at Amber, who had a concerned look on her face.

"Actually, I was thinking of climbing the World Tree on the inside," he informed her. "Tramp, Sang and Ame offered to come with me and… well, we had a deal that they'll log in around ten, but there's still time for that. Do you… Would you like to help?"

Amber looked a bit surprised at the question. "But that…" She shook her head. "I don't know. It sounds incredibly risky, not because of the possibility it might fail, but because of what might happen to you. I asked him about it, but Yuuki-kun thinks there's still a possibility you might die if the NerveGear is tempered with. I don't know if that goes for in-game death, too. I… kinda forgot about asking that."

"I'll be careful," Kirito said. "I wouldn't like to get killed off when I'm so close to getting out, too."

Amber smiled. "Then count me in, too. But I have one request."

"Eh? What?"

"Delay that attack a bit."

Kirito looked at the smug smile on her face and wondered what that was all about, but she explained before he needed to ask.

"Klein is coming. He entered the ring surrounding Arun about twenty minutes ago and he seems to be going all out, too. He'll be here around noon, if he is actually taking some rest while his wings are useless. If not… then he'll be faster."

Kirito nodded in acceptance of that. Knowing that somebody he knew he could trust to watch his back was coming left him feeling more determined in his choice to get Asuna out of that cage. He smiled gratefully in Amber's direction, then once again looked up where the branches of the World Tree should be, hidden in the distance.

_I'm coming, Asuna._

* * *

Klein batted away yet another monster, then quickly slashed at it before it could recover. It disintegrated and the Salamander looked around in relief, satisfied that one of the last of the mobs had been taken care of.

"How many of them was there?" he asked to his companion, the Sylph player named Leafa, currently slicing through the very last monster.

"I don't know. A lot," she replied as she sheathed her katana and looked towards the World Tree that was now significantly closer. "My wings have recharged, too. Are you ready to fly?"

"I'm all set," Klein replied.

They launched in the air and proceeded to fly in silence. Klein was beginning to get used to it, too.

During his time in SAO, the guild he'd been leading, Fuurinkazan, had quite a bit of members. Always, somebody would be talking, occasionally even joking in order to keep the morale of the group high. After two years, Klein had gotten used to it. Travelling with the focused Sylph was a tad bit different, however.

For one, she could match Kirito in the way she was shutting herself. Well, not quite, he amended, but she came pretty close. As quiet and brooding as Leafa was, she seemed far more open compared to the certain swordsman in distress. She was just going very far out of her way to hide it. The few times she would actually open up and start talking to him more like a friend than a stranger, it was usually when they were confronting mobs and she was too busy to think about the front she was putting up. But then she'd shut herself again as soon as she'd notice and it then it would have go all over again.

Klein didn't understand her. She seemed to be even more fired up about getting to Arun than he was and he had some serious reasons. When he'd asked directly, the most he got was that she was following some rumors, but what exactly it was about, Klein had no idea.

So far he'd learned she was a high school student, she had been playing ALO for quite some time and her mother wouldn't mind her staying logged in the entire night if she knew what she was doing. That was as much as he got, mostly from the slips she made in the middle of battle when he'd ask a wrong question. Normally Klein would ask even more as he'd learned some things about responsibility in SAO and this girl was pretty much throwing it out the window, but at this point, he was pretty sure she wouldn't tell him. For some reason, she still seemed to be wary. That was fine, to. In SAO, if you weren't careful, you got killed. But this wasn't SAO. And Klein most certainly didn't have any reason to kill her.

Message icon appeared in the corner of his vision and Klein opened it.

«Try to keep your HP intact» was all it said. Klein blinked several times, slowing down enough for Leafa to turn and look at him.

"What is it?" she asked.

Klein shook his head. Was Amber going crazy? Or was that meant for somebody else?

"No idea," he told Leafa honestly. He sent a 'why' in response and the quick message he got in return surprised him even more.

"'There'll be lots of action waiting'…? What's that supposed to mean?"

"A problem?" Leafa asked.

"No, just a friend of mine," Klein replied with a sigh. "Warned me to keep my HP in check. Why? I've no clue."

Leafa nodded, then hesitantly and in quiet voice said, "You seem to have some pretty strange friends."

Klein scratched the back of his head with a sheepish grin. It was the first time she openly commented on something and he fumbled for the right words, not wanting to miss an opportunity for some proper interaction. He was getting bored already!

"Well, a bit. Amber I don't know that well, Kirito is the quiet type and Asuna… well, she's fun to be around."

He would have added something more, but even that much managed to get a reaction out of Leafa. She looked at him with wide eyes and asked hopefully, "You know Asuna? The Undine Asuna? So you know Ame, too? They're both Undines and—"

"Sorry, sorry," Klein quickly said. "I know Asuna, yeah, but I never heard of this Ame. Who is that? And how do you know Asuna?"

"Oh…" her face fell significantly and for a moment he thought she wouldn't answer his question, but then she said, "They're friends, I think, Asuna and Ame. I met them on a quest a few days ago. Actually, Ame is the one I'm looking for as the rumors I'm tracing was something she sent to Recon, this person who was with me before you showed up, and he told me and… never mind. I'm rambling. Anyway, I guess you can't be that bad if you're friends with them."

Klein didn't quite understand where that came from. Why exactly did she think of him as bad? He asked her as much and she looked at him in surprise, then explained, "I've yet to meet a Salamander who is actually nice. Come on, let's continue flying, we're close."

"Hey!" Klein protested as he hurried to catch up to her.

"Sorry, but it's true, "Leafa insisted. "I know there _are_ some. I know people who've made friends with them and actually stayed friends and I know not all of them are jerks… but it's pretty hard to see them as anything but when the only ones I've met are those who spend their free time PKing." With a meaningful look at him, she added, "Even among themselves, evidently."

To that, Klein could do nothing but shrug. "I don't really hang much around the territory. But rest assured, Asuna first, followed by Kirito, would kick my ass if I spent my free time PKing," he informed her in light voice.

Leafa smiled at that and Klein noticed she had a pretty nice smile when it was sincere. He then quickly pushed that thought out of his head.

_High school! She's still in high school! _he reminded himself.

Leafa, oblivious to his inner conflict, said in a bit more relaxed voice, "I still can't believe you don't know Ame, though. If it were reversed and you knew Ame but not Asuna, that would be okay, but as it is, it's pretty strange. Everyone knows Ame."

"What? Is she one of the best players or something?" Klein asked curiously, but Leafa shook her head with a small laugh.

"Not at all," she said. "I think she's somewhere in the middle, but I'm really not sure. I just know she has many friends. Anyway, look ahead!"

Klein would have enjoyed talking a bit more, but she had the point when she told him to look. A city lay ahead of them, built around the gigantic tree trunk which disappeared far up in the clouds. He could even discern the gates further ahead, but that was when he felt his wings weakening.

"Not now," he moaned. "We were so close, too."

Leafa smiled teasingly, then said, "Race you to the gates?"

"E-ehh?"

Klein was surprised with this offer. She was actually being friendly now and that had to have been a big step. Or not, seeing how she'd immediately mellowed down once he'd mentioned Asuna's name. Still, it was a good thing as he hadn't liked the silence much.

He wasn't going to like losing to her very much, either.

"Go!"

She was the first one who landed and broke into a run immediately.

Klein wondered how come she had so much strength and will to go on. It's not that he was lagging behind or anything, but staying awake for the whole night was a pretty exhausting experience. He was getting away with it solely because he'd already done it a few times even without counting the time he'd spent leveling up during SAO, but Leafa was pretty damn good.

Not that he was going to let her win, however.

His feet touched the ground a moment after her and it took him several paces to catch up to her, then proceed to take the lead. Advantage of having longer legs applied pretty well in the cases where getting exhausting from a run wasn't quite possible.

Somewhere along the way he sent a message to Amber to let her know he'd reach Arun soon.

What he hadn't been expecting for was the full blown squad waiting for them at the gates, however. He hadn't even realize it was them at first, though. Leafa had been the first to see them and she'd significantly slowed down then.

"Could that be your friends?" she'd asked.

That was when Klein noticed five people in the distance. He'd tried to get a better look, but at that point they were still standing too far away to discern.

"Only one way to find out," he'd told her.

They'd continued jogging, rather than sprinting, and the closer they got the slower they went. But as they got closer, Klein inevitably recognized the Cait Sith player with orange-brown pair of cat ears and tail, the Undine girl with light blue hair tied in two messy tails falling over her shoulder, but most of all, the Spriggan dressed in all black with a black longcoat to top it off, leaned with his back against the gate and sporting a… very unlike-Kirito face, actually. It was blank, for the most part, but it gave him the appearance more as if he were scheming something then sporting a neutral expression.

Klein eventually stopped moving entirely.

The Leprechaun girl he knew theoretically should be Amber, but looked nothing like her in real world, approached, but at that point, Klein didn't really care. Seeing Kirito alive, that was what mattered.

"Y-you idiot!" he shouted at the Spriggan boy before he could think about it and his eyes started tearing up. "Always! Always! Why do you always have to get yourself involved in troublesome things?!"

For a moment, Kirito looked as if he'd been punched in the face. But then, it melted into a serene smile that Klein had trouble seeing through the tears that he tried to quickly wipe away.

"It's… been a while," Kirito said quietly and looked down in the ground.

"Been a while, my ass," Klein grunted. "I'm just glad you've survived this long."

"I… I'm not that easy to kill," he muttered awkwardly.

"I promise you, the next time you get into something so troublesome, I'll personally ask Asuna to kick you until you get smarter!" But as he calmed down, he noticed the aforementioned girl wasn't present. "Where is she, anyway?"

The look on Kirito's face changed and Klein immediately knew that something had happened. Following a quick glance which Kirito had thrown in the direction of the World Tree, he wondered why he wasn't saying anything aloud. He almost asked aloud when he remembered the Sylph girl that had come along with him.

"Asuna… is a bit busy with other things," the Undine girl said with a wary glance in Kirito's direction. As he nodded, she continued in far more confident voice. "Anyway, I'm Ame. You must be Klein, right? I… I wasn't aware you were friends with Leafa, though."

For a moment, Klein wasn't sure whether she was trying to indicate the Sylph girl shouldn't be here or something else, but then she turned to her and asked with a smile, "How are you doing, Leafa? It's been a while."

"I'm… fine," Leafa replied. "How about you? Are you still partying with Tramp and Asuna?"

Ame grinned, then made a throwaway gesture towards another Undine in the group of five. "As you can see. Well, we're tagging along with the Flaming—or no, we're not. Actually, we're tagging along with half of the Flaming Wolves guild now. It's a long story. But what are you doing here? I thought you went back to Sylvain after that quest. By the way, how did it go? I should've asked Recon, but it kind of slipped of my mind."

"It was fine," Leafa said. "Sigurd is actually going to win the next elections because of it."

Ame grimaced. "Ugh. So that's why. It's pretty smart, I have to give him that, but it's hard to see him as a faction leader."

"I guess you can put it that way," Leafa agreed. "Um, Ame…"

From the side, Klein noticed the way her muscles tensed. He figured that Ame girl would have probably said something else if given a chance, but what Leafa then asked was not exactly what he'd been expecting.

"I'm actually here because I wanted to talk to you," she said hesitantly.

Ame tilted her head in clear confusion. "To me? What about?"

"Uh… Recon… he told me about this rumor…" but as Leafa struggled with finding proper words, Klein realized that Ame wasn't the only one who knew what she was talking about.

The reactions were subtle. The Cait Sith boy tensed momentarily and the Undine, Tramp or whatever, looked a bit surprised. Ame and Kirito's reactions were truly the interesting ones. Ame looked as if that had been the last thing she'd been expecting to hear, while with Kirito was hard to tell because of the way the avatar changed his face, but Klein thought he looked as though he was given some warning and had instantly put up a guard.

Leafa was oblivious to all of that as she finally voiced her real question.

"Is it true that the SAO players are now locked inside Alfheim?"

* * *

Leafa couldn't believe she'd actually asked it out loud.

She'd been steeling herself for that, but actually hearing the words come out from her mouth somehow sounded wrong. She soudned more as if she was accusing Ame of lying, or maybe something even worse. But she needed to know. Ever since she'd first heard it, Leafa had been restless. It had been a decision on a fly to get to Arun and ask the one who told that to Recon personally, so much that even Recon was shocked. Leafa even specifically asked of him not to try to join her in case he gets killed. But what if Ame herself didn't know? What if she'd only been gossiping? What if she'd traveled over half the world for nothing?

What if it really was a lie? Or worse, what if it was the truth?

Leafa didn't know which one of those options was worse. However, Ame's answer was just enough vague to muddle her thoughts on the matter even more.

"I don't know," she said hesitantly, throwing a look in the Spriggan's direction. Leafa wondered if he was the one who told her that, but Ame then continued, "It matches up, though. They'd have to be here for a short while, but also incredibly good players. Or at least be far more advanced than the beginners, anyway."

Leafa thought of the Salamander Klein for a moment, but as Ame continued she could freely dismiss it, "You never see them log out and they're always around…"

Leafa had seen Klein log out multiple times, every time in order to get something to eat. She had refused to do so herself, as she knew she could hold out without food for a night and she didn't trust him enough to log out with him as an only guard, but he'd definitely logged out.

"…Actually, the more reasons I'm listing the more I think I know one… who… could…"

"Tell me, please!" Leafa pleaded urgently. She knew this was neither time nor place, but she had to know. "Please… if you know anyone, I… I want to talk to them… I _have_ to talk to them."

Ame once again looked at the Spriggan boy, but this time Leafa clearly saw him shaking his head in panic. Muscles on Ame's face tightened, as if she was intending on spiting him.

"I think it's Asuna," she said in low voice.

Leafa froze at that entirely. _W__hat?_

"A-are you…?"

"I don't have anything to prove it," Ame quickly added with a headshake. "But I know for a fact that I've never seen her log out. Actually, the five of us… well six, including Klein, we were intending on conquering the World Tree. We have this theory it will give us some answers, help us crack the mystery. I guess you're not the only one who wants to know."

Leafa looked from each one of them to the other, but nothing she read on their faces helped her. Ame's was just as elusive and she seriously didn't know what else to think, other than that maybe they had a point. Maybe the World Tree held some answers, although she wasn't sure how it would.

"C-can I come, too?" she asked despite herself. "Just tell me what I have to do. I'm a quick flier and I can adapt quickly. I'm even good at casting some spells, including healing—"

"O-oi, calm down," the Undine, Tramp, told her. He too, looked towards the Spriggan for a moment before saying, "if you want to come, you're welcome, I guess. Does anyone have any objections?"

He sent yet another, completely in-discreet look – or better defined as glare – in the Spriggan's direction. Leafa wondered if he was the leader of their guild or something, what with everyone looking towards him for approval, but refrained from asking.

"I don't," Klein was the first to say and Leafa felt incredibly grateful at that moment. "I've seen her fight and I gotta say, she's good. We'll need assistance, no?"

"I'm all for it, too," Ame then said. "I can vouch for Leafa if you'd like."

The Cait Sith then grinned and looked over the Leprechaun girl pointedly, "As Amber says, the more the merrier."

Leafa once again started feeling incredibly relieved. Four of them were vouching for her. Four of them were letting her join. It was the majority, but somehow she felt that everything rested on the shoulders of the Spriggan. For some reason, everyone looked to him for guidance on this, even as he tried to get swallowed up by the shadows, make them forget he was there. The Leprechaun girl remained silent, too, but unlike others, she didn't look at the Spriggan even once.

"Kirito?" Ame asked.

The Spriggan—Kirito—looked at her uncertainly. "I guess, if you're sure…"

"She's a friend," Ame said. "Asuna's, too. Once it's all over, we can tell her everything."

Leafa didn't understand what Ame meant with that. The final sentence, did it refer to her? Or did it refer to Asuna? She thought it was the latter, as Asuna was the one absent, but whatever it was, it seemed to be enough to him.

"Okay," Kirito said.

Now the Cait Sith turned to Amber. "Well? We have yet to hear you say anything?"

"I don't know… I guess since you're all for it, no matter what I say… oh, never mind. Let's just run with this. Even I'm getting itchy."

Ame grinned excitedly. "Welcome to the party, Leafa," she said as she sent the party invitation to both her and Klein, which they accepted, then turned towards their goal and lifted her fist. "To the World Tree!"

Leafa couldn't resist the urge to smile. It was such a childish and bright action and she was surprised that Ame didn't look silly when doing it. She saw a few others, such as Tramp and the Cait Sith, whose name she didn't know, smile as well, but Klein, Kirito and Amber all had different expressions that didn't indicate amusement in the least. More like thoughtful, conflicted and uncertain looks respectively.

She couldn't truly say she was surprised, as she didn't know Kirito and Amber at all, but Klein was a mystery. He'd always seemed upbeat and relaxed, but there was something strange to him now. Something she didn't think quite fit with his easy-going nature.

_Are they like me? _Leafa wondered as Ame lead the way towards the World Tree. _Do they know some SAO players who didn't wake up? …Do they know if my onii-chan is here?_

Leafa wasn't sure she even wanted to know the answer.

* * *

Ame was a pathological liar.

Amber didn't understand how she hadn't realized it until now, but the way she completely twisted the truth, played on Leafa's emotional uneasiness and got her to join them cemented that fact. She could understand why she'd done it, as even she was observant enough to see that for whatever reason, Kirito didn't feel like being upfront about everything (that was yet another puzzling can of worms), but it didn't sit right with her.

She didn't understand why Kirito even agreed at all.

Was she the only one actually considering the possibility that he might _die? _Was she the only one aware of what that might mean?

Tramp, Sang, Ame and especially Klein should be aware of that, so she could agree to this reckless mission, but Leafa?

Storming the World Tree was a bad enough idea, but calling somebody to join, who only Ame and Klein appeared to know, wasn't something they should've done, despite their strategy being largely simple. Heck, it was difficult enough to coordinate when they didn't even know each other's abilities, but this was too much. Amber had almost spilled all her thoughts on the subject as they walked towards the tree and she _would_ have done it if Klein hadn't dragged Kirito to the back of the line while Leafa was talking to Ame and Tramp and Sang were too busy discussing their plan.

Amber tried her best to stay within earshot, hoping it would grant her at least some answers, but hearing them at all was difficult.

"…get this. So what really happened to Asuna?" Klein was saying.

Kirito's answer was too quiet for Amber to discern from Ame's sudden chuckling. She almost told the Undine girl to shut up, but instead slowed her pace down a little, which granted her an opportunity to hear more.

"…taken there against her will," Kirito was saying. "I don't know why, but I have a really bad feeling about it."

Amber was unpleasantly surprised when the most Klein said was 'I see where you're coming from' and left it at that. She'd been expecting something more, perhaps logic similar to her own. After all, why were they doing anything if somebody was already taking care of the problem from the outside? She'd expected at least Klein would be mature enough to realize how they weren't going to gain anything with this, but he actually seemed to be supporting Kirito even more than that action-deprived Undine kid. And Sang. God, how could she forget Sang? _He_ would go along with it for the kicks, naturally. AS long as it seemed it interesting, he would go with anything. But this was different. This was actually putting Kirito's life at risk. How couldn't they see it?

"So… why did you agree to let Leafa come, then?" Klein asked and Amber's ears perked up at that. Yes, _just why did he do it?_

"I can't do it alone," Kirito whispered. Amber almost thought she was imagining it, until he spoke again, this time in even lower voice so she'd hardly caught anything. "… to know… one seeing something wrong…" The rest of it was completely lost to her. Amber wanted to tear her hair out, but from what little she got, she could honestly say that it was almost exactly what she'd expect from him. When she'd asked the similar question, the most she got was that ' he couldn't sit by' or 'I have to get her out', but this was different. It really put in perspective how much more he trusted Klein compared to her.

Now, Amber was beginning to feel bad about listening in on them.

She still thought it was suicide.

Not even fifty Salamanders had managed to break through the inner side of the World Tree, so why should they? She didn't understand where Kirito's confidence was coming from. It was actually at the point of alarming.

As they started climbing the stairs, Amber took a deep breath, turned around grabbed Klein by the elbow, dragging him back down. He stumbled in surprise and almost felt, but she did her best not to cause him to fall.

"I'll be returning him in a moment!" she shouted over her shoulders while Klein spluttered in protest. Then, when she got him far enough from the others, she asked, "Why are you going along with this? Why you? You should understand! Of all people, you should know exactly how much risk-"

"Oi, slow down, slow down," he told her, abruptly cutting her off.

Amber gave him a single desperate look, hoping at least that could change something, but the next thing he told her left her feeling even more hesitant about this whole thing.

"You're looking at it the wrong way," he said. "Kirito… if you think it's bad what he's doing now, then I have no idea how you'd take it if you heard everything else. Anyway, the point is, even if none of us helped him with this, he would still come. Being alone wouldn't stop him. At least this way, I can stop him from doing something stupid."

"But-"

"Drop it, Amber. Even if Asuna told him not to do it, I doubt he'd listen at this point."

"I don't understand," Amber whispered.

Klein sighed and scratched the back of his head. "It's hard to explain. Come on. We're the ones they're waiting on."

She nodded with her gut twisting at the choice she made. They climbed the stairs but Amber no longer dared to speak, because she knew Klein had a point. Looking at Kirito, standing at the front, ready to accept any challenge that came at him, she knew that with them or without them, he would walk in and fight until the very end.

"Thank you, everyone," he said in low voice.

_Just don't die_, Amber thought in return. Then he pushed the door open.

What waited for them inside was nothing more but a vast empty dome stretching so high that seeing the ceiling – or whatever else should be there – seemed to be as far away as the branch themselves were. A little over their heads was a thin horizontal line that stretched throughout the entire dome and marked the start of strange hexagon-shaped fields that went on high in the air.

Amber frowned. During the duration of the battle, she'd heard something about the participants being granted the ability of unlimited flight, but she wasn't sure if that was the case. She hoped so, because otherwise she didn't think they'd be able to win. Hell, even with it, their chances were questionable.

"Kirito—" she moved to ask, but he interrupted her.

"Remember the plan. Amber, Ame, stay at the ground level until you get the patterns. Fly only and only if somebody gets killed before you can do it."

"Kirito—"

"We've been granted unlimited use of our wings during the duration of this battle. Let's not let it to go to waste."

Amber would have called him again if she thought it would be of any use, but it was evident that no matter what she said, this wasn't the time for talk. She closed her eyes for a moment, taking a shaky breath. A hand laid on her shoulder, surprising her momentarily. She opened her eyes to see Klein standing beside her, but not looking at her. He was looking at Kirito with fire burning in his eyes, but when he spoke, Amber knew the words were meant for her.

"Don't worry too much about him. He looks frail, he looks weak. Everybody underestimates him because of that. But do you know who cleared Sword Art Online?"

Amber blinked. "Eh?"

"Kirito did. With Asuna's assistance, yes. It's only thanks to the two of them the rest of us managed to log out. Don't take him for a kid because he looks like one. He grew up long time ago. We all did."

Amber didn't quite know what to say to that. Andrew had hinted that Kirito had been there during the final battle, but he'd never outright said…

She looked at the Spriggan with renewed determination. If he was indeed the one responsible for getting the players out, then the least she could do was give it her best and hope it would be enough.

Just then, he spread his wings and yelled, "GO!"

* * *

Kirito kicked into the air with as much speed and strength as he possibly could. Before he even knew it, he managed to get a fifth of the way up before the first roadblock appeared in his path. The white knight had an enormous sword aiming right at him, but Kirito was ready. Something like this was not going to stop him.

His eyes zoomed in on the single dot and he swung his own weapon outward, hitting it exactly where he'd intended. His weapon passed through the sword without effort and caught the side of the knight, but Kirito didn't wait to see what happened. He followed through with a kick that sent the knight flying downwards and proceeded to fly up.

A cry tore from his throat as another three knights intercepted him. Kirito swung his sword wildly, but with precision. Every single one of his attacks connected at the right place and gave him space to keep moving forward. But with each of his small victories, more of the enemies came. Within moments he was surrounded by six of them and it was only thanks to Klein at his back that Kirito managed to fight them off without any damage.

_I'm coming, Asuna, _he thought as he slashed through another knight and then another.

The attack of three of them simultaneously was the first thing that managed to force him back. He dropped several feet and in turn attacked with even more rage building up inside of him. No matter what, he was not going to lose.

"Kirito!"

He instinctively moved at the shout, narrowly missing a sword that would have hit from behind if Klein hadn't shouted. How he'd even given a warning given that he had his own batch of knights to take care of, Kirito had no idea, but he was grateful.

Kirito didn't have much time to think on ways to help him right away, unfortunately, as yet another attack came in his direction. It missed him narrowly, but allowed him to grab the knight's wrist and mercilessly slice him in two before using the one remaining part to hurl it towards the knights attacking Klein. It got two of them and Klein even got a chance to give him quick thumbs up as he fought off even more of them.

"Watch out!"

The shout came from way down below and Kirito wasn't sure whether it was Amber or the Sylph girl, Leafa, who'd shouted, but the warning came in handy at the swords that came from all sides. Two of them got embedded in his legs, two in his left arm and one scratched his side while the others either missed or were blocked.

It was nothing.

Even as his HP reduced bit by bit, Kirito fought back. He swung his legs wildly, successfully getting rid of the swords in them, then those from his arm and finally, the sword from his side. His body fell into movements for four-consecutive-hit skill back from SAO, «Horizontal Square», successfully destroying seven of the knights surrounding him.

There was no lag time, however.

If there was something he appreciated about ALO, it was that the lack of Sword Skills also meant the lack of subsequent pause after performing a sword skill. In battles in Aincrad, there was that brief moment where you were completely vulnerable to attack, but not here.

Here, nothing stopped him from launching another attack without a pause.

It wasn't until now that Kirito understood exactly how much the two swords he'd possessed in SAO meant to him. Fighting with this sword, simply called Wild Wind, lacked something important. Ever since he'd got it the first time, Kirito had known, but not until now did he know exactly what it lacked.

His primary weapon, Elucidator, had been a drop after defeating the fiftieth floor boss. It was something he'd got as a reward for putting everything he had into that fight in hopes of victory, it was something he got through his own effort. In a way, he liked to think that the sword had chosen him because of that. But it was a hard-earned weapon and even as the weapons of even higher caliber were dropped and could be bought, Kirito never once thought of replacing it.

The Dark Repulsor had been another weapon earned through his effort, but this time not nearly as much as Liz's. She'd been the one who had helped him get the materials and she had been the one who'd forged it for him. In a way, that blade had been so much more meaningful, too, precisely because it wasn't just his strength that powered it, but somebody else's as well.

Wild Wind was just a weapon he bought from a regular blacksmith. Ichigo and Amber and everybody else could call him good as much as they liked, but he would never reach up to Liz's level of ability. This weapon was just stats and data and not a real weapon, not to him. It wasn't as strong as either of his weapons had been. It wasn't nearly as fast or as important, either. There was a large difference between those things one earned and those they simply got. Kirito had always preferred earning them.

Still, even that weapon, incomparably weaker than either of his old ones, was enough to slice through the knights, killing them in one more.

At this point, Kirito wasn't sure how many of them he'd destroyed. It could be dozens, it could be hundreds. What he was sure of, however, was that his goal was still too far for comfort and that the number of the knights didn't seem to be reducing at all.

The Dual Wielding skill as well was something else that he could now deem necessary, but at this rate he wasn't going to get a chance to get another sword out. He'd had it ready, a blade of rather low durability compared to the Wild Wind, but the weight of it was exactly like what he was accustomed to.

At this rate, though…

Kirito's head whipped towards the Salamander as he slashed through two more knights.

"Klein! I need five seconds!"

"I'll try, but this is crazy!"

Kirito nodded in agreement. He knew that five seconds was too much to ask in situation where a single one could determine whether you lose or not, but at this rate, he didn't have a better plan.

Their positions switched and Klein was now at the very highest point of the seven of them. Kirito tried to take the time given to open his inventory, but attacks from three different knights stopped him before he could do it. Forced to fight back, the most he could do was glance towards the floating menu and hope that he might get another opportunity soon.

That was when the knights hurled Klein down so fast that even his wings didn't help him regain balance immediately.

* * *

Klein fell well below the heights that Leafa and Sang had managed to reach before he succeeded in regaining balance. His HP was just below fifty percent and the five seconds Kirito had asked for, he never got. Even now, Klein could see him fighting further ahead from them all and he realized one simple thing that hadn't occurred to him before.

United we stand, divided we fall.

That was exactly what was happening.

Ame and Amber weren't enough as backup. They were handling it well by the way he saw them healing Leafa, but as they were on the ground, their offensive power was severely limited. It helped that the knights couldn't seem to fly that low in order to get them, but it also meant that neither of the girls had the chance to destroy them in turn. What was worse, Leafa, Sang and Tramp were all too far away from one another to watch each others' back and that is not to even mention Kirito who was several times higher than all of them put together now, yet still not anywhere close to the top.

They couldn't keep on fighting this way. Perhaps it would have worked if the number of enemies got reduced, but the number of the knights was constantly increasing and Klein began to understand that the top couldn't possibly be reached by an entire group.

"Amber, Ame, fly!" he yelled as he slashed through several knights before a moment before they released the arrows aimed at the girls. "At this rate, we don't stand a chance unless if you get up here!"

"But—!"

"Let's go!" Amber yelled, grabbing Ame's arm and taking off immediately.

"Keep as close to the others as possible!" Klein yelled, but he wasn't sure if they heard.

It occurred to him that the lower they were, the easier it was to fight back, but staying low now was the last thing they needed.

He forced his wings to carry him higher as he screamed his throat raw, his katana slicing through several knights as he regained the altitude and rejoined Kirito at the top, helping him to fend off the never-ending knights. Reckless attacking sacrificed several of his Hit Points, but at this point only Ame's, Amber's and Kirito's HP gauges were still in the green zone.

A few minutes later - or maybe seconds, Klein simply couldn't tell anymore - he was back at the top, but his HP now was in red. But just as he noticed that, it increased until it got back in the yellow and Klein looked around in rush.

Somewhere below him, he saw Amber giving him thumbs up and he grinned before focusing back on the knights that were coming at him and Kirito from _everywhere._

"Just how many of them are there?" he yelled in frustration as he cut through even more of them to the best of his ability.

"Too many!" Kirito yelled back and if the time had been any better, Klein would have yelled at him shouting in his ear. As it was, standing back-to-back in order to no longer conquer the World Tree, but simply survive, he figured he could leave it for some other time.

"I have a plan, but I'll have to immediately pull back after I do it!" Ame shouted.

Klein was stunned to see just how high she'd gotten with nobody else around to help her, but then he caught sight of her HP gauge. There was roughly twenty percent of it left, but the magic shield she'd put up had probably been exactly what helped her get so high. It was quickly fading, though.

"Talk!" Kirito ordered.

"You need to cover me! Five, six seconds at most! My MP is still high and once it starts glowing red, you need to fall back!" Ame replied as she struggled to fend off two knights with her lance.

"With your HP, that's suicide!" Klein yelled.

"I know what I'm doing! Tramp, get here!"

Klein wanted to object, but as Kirito was already fending off every knight that came in her direction, the least he could do was help along.

Tramp joined them several moments later and helped keep even more of the knight's from Ame as she chanted. Klein was the first to notice the red glow and reached out with his hand, managing to grab the hem of Kirito's longcoat and pull him down. He'd seen Tramp falling back as well, withdrawing as far away as possible.

A second later, everything exploded.

The force of the explosion disrupted their flying ability and Klein and Kirito ended up flying lower than any of them had intended, but still too far from the ground to say that a fall from that altitude wouldn't be deadly.

As he looked up, he could only see a faint contour of Ame's avatar in the dark smoke (where did that even come from?) as she was flying down—or falling, he couldn't tell. The HP gauge of hers that he could see still had exactly seven percent of HP left and even one attack could kill her now.

Klein realized what was going to happen a moment before it did.

Ame wasn't falling, fortunately, but she too got caught in the momentum and was flying straight towards one of the waiting knights. She tried to get out of the way as she'd had to discard her weapon when casting the spell, but the longsword still ended up cutting off her arm just below her elbow. The falling arm dissipated first, then she got entirely swallowed up by blue flames.

Before Klein could even react, Amber flew past him.

"Sang, cover me!"

Klein couldn't help but feel relieved over her quick thinking, then looked back up to see how much damage Ame's explosion had done.

The answer was none.

Klein's eyes were wide in shock at the numbers and numbers of knights that didn't appear to have reduced at _all_. In that briefest moment he thought, _is there any way we can possibly win?_

Then he heard Kirito's battle cry as the Spriggan passed him by at the speed that actually disrupted Klein's balance. For a moment, he thought that he was insane. Then he saw the enormous sword in his left hand, thrice the width and quite a bit longer than the one in his right.

Klein didn't know how he was going to balance such two vastly different swords, but at this point, it no longer mattered. If Kirito still thought they had a chance, just who was Klein to think otherwise?

* * *

When the battle first started, Amber had been convinced that this was going to be exactly like the challenges. As Kirito had asked of them, she and Ame had stayed behind while the rest of them launched a forward attack and could do nothing but cast healing spells whenever they saw someone needed it.

Just like the challenges, she'd thought. Staying behind, fixing others and generally being of no much use. She was almost used to it so she supposed she had no right to complain, but that was when things had gone a bit crazy.

Ame and Amber were protected by the two meter barrier that did not allow the knights to pass through in order to attack them. At first, that had been a relief. It meant that at least they could heal others and make sure they got as far as possible without any harm to their person, right?

Wrong.

Just because they were stopped from landing didn't mean that the two girls were safe at all. They discovered that when Kirito flew past a certain line that activated a number of archers without him even noticing it.

Unfortunately, those archers focused on the girls rather than the frontline fighters. And when the rain of arrows started falling, not one of them managed to get away unscathed. Their HPs got reduced by a quarter despite Amber whipping out a shield to protect them and Ame generally being quick enough to get under it. Amber supposed that she was lucky that she even had one in her inventory, but when it got destroyed twenty seconds later, she wasn't quite sure how to take it.

From then on, they deflected most of the attacks by using a magic shield provided by Amber which took little to no MP at all, until Klein yelled at them to fly and Amber jumped at the opportunity. Ame wasn't all that happy about it, but even she could see where Klein was coming from.

Out of habit, Amber stuck as close to Sang as possible as he was just about the only person present whose moves she could somewhat grasp. It was something familiar to her in this chaos and it provided security that nobody else could.

Still, she wished she were closer to Kirito. His HP was still green, yes, but the way he was fighting was bound to cause them trouble sooner or later – it was just too forward. All offense and no defense – it was the same way she'd seen him fight the Salamanders right out of the Scarlet Corridor and Amber could only wonder how he'd managed to win SAO through that. Maybe that was why Klein had said with Asuna's assistance, but she simply couldn't imagine how it'd work. Unless if Asuna was fast enough to follow his pace, Kirito should have died a hundred times by now.

Regardless, Amber wasn't given the time to focus on the improbabilities of Kirito's fighting style. At the last second she managed to bail out Leafa from a nasty attack, at the price of her HP almost dropping into yellow zone, but Amber could quite honestly care less about it now.

The explosion caused by Ame that followed just about a moment later cleared their way to the top, or so Amber had hoped for a few moments. The dozens and dozens of knights closed the gaps within seconds and what Ame had done had left her incredibly vulnerable and open to attack, along with the rest of them being quite a bit blown away. Then she saw the girl getting swallowed up by the flames.

_Two more resurrection spells only,_ Amber thought with dismay as she flew in Ame's direction as fast as she could. That was how many she could pull off at this rate and that was solely because she'd already had to resurrect Sang once, throw around several spells to heal Tramp and Leafa, throw several low-level shields and generally destroy a few knights before she'd switched to melee.

Now, though, she had to go back magic if she wanted to achieve anything. She didn't like that.

"Sang, cover me!" she yelled to her longtime partner. It probably could have gone without saying, but she felt relieved to know that he heard her and was watching her back.

Then she pointed her hands at Ame's Remain Light and started chanting as fast as she could without messing up the pronunciation of the magical words. Several arrows got embedded in her shoulder at that point, but she didn't allow it to interrupt her chanting. Finally, when the Remain Light started glowing and Ame returned, Amber allowed herself to turn back and observe the situation in the brief moment that she could.

Leafa had somehow flown higher and was fighting side by side with Klein. Sang was still covering for her while Tramp was trying to clear his way up to Kirito. And Kirito…

Amber wasn't sure whether she considered that boy insane or a genius. She was leaning heavily to the former, no matter how much his actions were justified.

Instead of one, there were two swords in his hands and he was slashing wildly at a speed that was almost impossible for her to follow. She'd heard from Ichigo that he could dual wield. That had been strange because Ichigo had explicitly said that he was right-handed, but he was apparently just that good, to the point where she'd even let him have her sword once. Amber had back then thought Ichigo was exaggerating. She'd thought so because Ichigo always exaggerated when talking about seeing strong players fight, but she thought that she'd been especially overreacting back then.

Looking at Kirito now, she understood exactly what she'd meant.

He was almost half-way up now, the sword in his left hand leaving behind significantly smaller amount of damage when it caught a knight, but he was progressing at a faster rate than before. He was progressing to the point where not even Leafa and Klein could keep up with him.

_Wow…_

But in the brief instant she glanced at his HP bar positioned underneath her own, she realized it was not enough.

Hardly minutes must have passed, but his HP was now on the border between yellow and red, the last thing rescuing him being one of the simplest healing spells thrown by nobody other than Tramp before he got pushed back down.

When he'd got that high, Amber hadn't got a clue. She'd lost sight of him for a short time and he'd reached that high. He was good. Not so much in fighting as he was good at avoiding fights. He got out of the way of most attacks but with no regard for the tiny cuts that still managed to get him. It was probably why there were only three knights attacking him while the rest were focused on either Klein, Leafa or Kirito.

Amber set out with her weapon of choice with every intention of helping them out, but even more knights intercepted her.

"Out of my way!" she yelled as she tore through several of them.

But she was still too slow.

Kirito's swords were still swinging at all sides in a way that suggested that he'd been practicing it _a long _time, but he had one of the knight's longswords impaled in his torso.

Tramp chanted yet another healing spell before knights got in his way, too, but it was enough to give Kirito time to get rid of the sword in his body. Then he lashed out with both his swords wildly.

Amber watched in horror as Kirito's oversized sword broke in pieces on contact with the knight's. She was too far to see his reaction to that, but she didn't have to.

The knight swung his sword at the unexpected opening. A moment later, Kirito was gone, lost in the dull purple flames.

Amber felt tears welling up in her eyes, sliding down her cheeks. "No! _NO!_"

Her scream got attention of most of the others, except for Klein. He was already flying in that direction, mercilessly slicing anything that got in his way with a scream.

Amber swung her spear, a weapon she'd chosen for it's longer range rather than her experience in fighting with it, in an attempt to get up there, but she was too far away. Briefly, she caught the look in Klein's eyes and she realized what he was wordlessly asking, but in order to do it she needed to get closer.

If Klein had fought hard by now, then this had to be at least twenty times as hard. Amber would never allow herself to fall behind.

_One more revival spell! I can still do it!_

Finally, she was in position. Kirito was still too far away, but that could be worked around. Klein was up there, merely a meter and six knights separating him from the tiny purple flame. He slashed at them and within seconds, that number was reduced to one. At that point, Amber dropped her spear, knowing she no longer had the time to put it back in her inventory.

That was fine, though, it wasn't her life that was on the line here. Not really.

The first words of the revival spell, threatening to spill too early, while Kirito was still too far. But Klein was there, so close that Amber was certain they would make it. There was no way they wouldn't!

Then, merely an instant before Klein's hand closed around it, Kirito's Remain Light flickered. As Klein's fingers closed around it, it was gone.

* * *

**Author's Note: **I'd like to let you know that chapters 1, 2, 5, 7 and 11 have had their grammar fixed thanks to Audiodelus! Also, final part of chapter 10 also went through some revisions, but it's nothing plot related so you won't be missing any important plot points. Most of it was just fixing some things that I felt were bland and lacked feeling.

On this occasion, I'd like to give credit to Auidodelus for helping me out so much with giving me pointers and pointing out where I could have done better! Thank you very much! Hopefully, I'm getting better now.

That said... please don't kill me.


	16. Chapter XVI

_You're never gonna be alone_  
_From this moment on_  
_If you ever feel like letting go_  
_I won't let you fall_  
_When all hope is gone_  
_I know that you can carry on_  
_We're gonna see the world out_  
_I'll hold you 'til the hurt is gone_

**_—Nickelback, Never Gonna be Alone_**

**Link to Reality**

Chapter XVI

_November 17__th_

At first, Leafa didn't have any idea what happened. Her attention was solely on the knights and, occasionally, on her slowly reducing HP as she did her best to contribute in the suicidal battle. She didn't understand where these players were getting their confidence from. It had to have something to do with that Spriggan, because once he fell…

Leafa still wasn't sure exactly what happened.

They had all been fighting to the best of their abilities, she was sure of that. So far, Klein and Kirito had seemed especially spirited about it, but they were also the ones who got further than anyone else. Leafa had tried joining and even had been up, very close to them for a brief time, but keeping up with them was nearly impossible. Occasional battle cry would remind her that she had to give better than her best and Leafa would try, but she'd lost sight of both the aforementioned fighters after Ame's explosion.

It wasn't until another scream tore through the dome that she tried to look for them.

The reason she looked that time was because, unlike all the others, this scream was different. Unlike a compressed form of determination, expressed in the way of straining their virtual vocal cords, this one was a desperate cry that sent a chill down her spine. She didn't even know who'd screamed, but it had to have been a girl. Instinctively, Leafa turned to survey the situation.

Kirito was gone.

No matter where she looked, the Spriggan was gone and Klein and Amber seemed to be fighting with even more strength to get higher. At that point, Leafa was too far to understand everything, but the tiny flame even she could see was enough of a giveaway. They were trying to revive him.

Leafa didn't understand their rush. They'd both made multiple mistakes which took away their precious Hit Points, but they continued without any regard to that. They'd been behaving as if they'd been possessed by wild beasts without any regard to the damage it might leave behind. Leafa couldn't believe it.

Then, Amber had done the stupidest thing of all and dropped her spear, leaving herself completely vulnerable to attack.

Leafa was shocked. She could understand that Amber wanted to cast a spell, she could understand that Amber was in a hurry and she could understand this was an important mission, but she doubted Kirito would hold it against them even if they failed to revive him. He could get stronger and try again later. It's not as if the World Tree would go anywhere. She could understand the urgency, too, but perhaps they were going a bit overboard with the 'nobody dies' policy. It didn't make sense.

In hindsight, she should have realized right away that there was something she didn't know about this mission.

Two minutes—that was how long they, as in the whole party—lasted after Kirito's defeat.

Compared to how long they had been fighting, and Leafa wasn't sure about it, but it had to have been over fifteen minutes, it was a poor last stand.

Klein and Amber were the first ones to fall in a space of several seconds.

Klein had sacrificed so much of his HP to get to Kirito, but once the Spriggan's Remain Light was gone, it was as if he'd lost every reason for fighting. He didn't even try to defend himself from the quick attacks coming from the knights. Not five seconds after the tiny ball of purple light disappeared, a red one appeared at almost the exact same spot.

Completely defenseless against the incoming attacks, Amber lost merely a second later.

Leafa didn't know when Tramp and Ame lost as well, but she knew it was only her and the Cait Sith, Sang who remained standing when she actually stopped fighting to get a good look. At that point, Leafa was no longer trying to reach the top. She was just trying to get herself out of there alive. As much as this was just a game, dying meant losing about a fifth of her skills and money and Leafa didn't like the idea in the least. Even more, she'd be teleported back to Sylvain and have to fly to Arun all over again.

But at this rate, did it matter? Ame was back in the Undine territory. None of the people who knew anything that might be of help to her in finding Kazuto were anywhere close to Sylvain. Asuna remained her only chance and she was supposed to be in Arun.

The things got a bit more twisted when Leafa remembered s_he_ could also be one of the SAO players.

Leafa still didn't know what to think of that, but if Asuna could help her, then she would do her best to reach her.

Just as she decided that, her HP dropped into the red zone.

Leafa grit her teeth.

"We need to get out!" she yelled at the Cait Sith as she parried yet another attack. "We don't stand a chance!"

"Already?! I thought we were just warming up!" Sang yelled back in frustration.

Leafa was too busy evading attacks and flying towards the exit to respond to his bad attitude. Then she saw his HP gauge, a moment before he got enveloped in yellow flames, too.

It distracted her for a—no, it was less than a moment. It had to be even less than half a moment, her mind merely registering what happened to him and committing it to memory… but it was enough. A sword she should have known would be coming stabbed through her chest from behind and the last of her HP was gone.

The following sixty seconds had to be the longest experience in Leafa's life. Even the long and boring history lessons couldn't quite compare. There at least she could doze off and remember how she was going to fly in ALO as soon as she returned home. But when you were dead, the following minute you could do nothing but wait.

The bright red numbers ticked down slowly. Forty nine seconds… forty eight…

Leafa begged them to hurry. She hated this. She'd died only once by now and she hadn't wanted to repeat that experience. Those sixty seconds in which she couldn't even log out, much less do anything in the game… it didn't sit right with her. It bothered her. It made her feel claustrophobic. She liked her freedom. She liked flying. But now, there was nothing she could do except watch the knights disappear one by one, having taken their victory, having defeated the seven crazy players who thought they could win this game for their personal reasons.

What a joke.

Twenty six… twenty five…

_Hurry,_ Leafa begged. _Please hurry. _It didn't matter if she ended up in Sylvain anymore. She just wanted this to be over so that she could send a message to Asuna and ask her to meet her. Heck, sending a message to anyone right now would be great.

Finally, after what felt like eternity, the countdown reached zero and Leafa felt herself being teleported to the Sylph hometown.

Her eyes were shut when the spinning feeling stopped, so she opened them to scan her surroundings.

She was in the middle of the plaza, the place where the players would land when they were to log in for the first time or spawn back to after they die. No matter what, that point should not change.

Around her, the familiar lights of the beautiful town gave their greetings and Leafa sighed. Not two days away, yet she still missed this city as if she hadn't seen it for months.

"Leafa-chan! Leafa-chan!"

Her head turned in the direction from where the call came and Leafa could only roll her eyes at the sight of Recon running. How he'd found her so quickly, Leafa would never know. She was beginning to think he was specifically tracing her, but he didn't seem to be coming from afar.

"Oh, hey," she said simply, not very much in the mood to be eunthusiastic.

"D-did you succeed? Did you talk to Ame-san? And why did you die, Leafa-chan?"

So many questions, so little time, Leafa thought as she looked towards the World Tree, so distant.

"Yeah, I talked to her," she said absent-mindedly. She opened her menu and started scrolling down her friend list until she found Asuna, then tried sending a message. It was the first time Leafa had seen anything such as «System Error: Receiver unavailable».

"And?" Recon asked impatiently.

Leafa didn't respond. She would have, though, if she hadn't felt something strange tugging at her shoulder, as if somebody was trying to wake her up. "Huh?"

"Is something the matter, Leafa-chan?" Recon asked, but Leafa wasn't sure.

Then a small window popped up before her. «Log Out in…» and it started counting down from ten. Leafa immediately understood what it meant.

After the fiasco with the NerveGear, another product of similar construction, the AmuSphere, got launched to the market, only with the safety measures explicitly lifted up. In other words, due to the security measures overriding the AmuSphere interface, it could not completely eliminate contact with the outside world. So if somebody was touching her body in the real world, Leafa would feel it in the game, only to a reduced degree. A slight touch and perhaps the wind could not be felt at all, but if somebody was explicitly trying to let the player know they need to wake up, all they needed to do was tap the player's shoulder or arm or generally call their name in very loud voice.

However, there was another safety measure related to it, but unlike the others, it was a default, but also optional measure, which in Leafa's case was always activated.

If any contact from the outside world reached her in-game, she was to automatically log out with a countdown going down from ten seconds.

"Looks like mom needs something," Leafa said as she felt yet another tug at her shoulder, only this time quite a bit stronger and the countdown reached five. "I'll log in later."

With that said, she sat down on the ground to make the transition easier.

Two seconds later, everything twisted and she was lying on her bed, with her eyes shut and feeling a bit dizzy. Her mother was still shaking her shoulder to a much higher degree than what she'd felt in the game and was calling her name in a rush.

A little bit frustrated, Kirigaya Suguha opened her eyes and removed the AmuSphere. "I'm here, mom…" She forced herself to sit up as she battered away her mom's hand and looked at her. "What's going on?"

Suguha couldn't tell what her mom was thinking at that particular moment. She seemed to be in a rush, that was for sure, but there was also something akin to either panic or excitement.

"Get dressed quickly, Sugu," she said. "I'm going to start the car!"

After that, she left the room immediately, leaving a rather confused Suguha behind.

"E-eh? Mom? Mom! Mom, get back here! What's going on?!" she shouted to her mother just as Kirigaya Midori walked out in the hallway. "Mom!"

"Hurry up, Sugu! We have to go to the hospital!"

At that, Suguha did hurry up. She hastily reached for the jacket hanging on her chair, nearly fell and knocked down the chair as well. Heck, she'd been so reckless that she'd almost knocked a plate of her half-eaten cake all over the floor, but Suguha couldn't think about it now. She scrambled off the bed, ruining the last neat part on it that she could, then proceeded to push her hands in the sleeves in such a hurry that she actually had trouble doing it.

Two minutes later, she was standing completely dressed up and ready at the front door while her mother was still having trouble pulling on her boots.

"What happened, mom? Is it onii-chan? Did something happen?" Suguha asked breathlessly.

"I just got a call…" her mother replied as she reached for the car keys hanging near the door. "He's awake, Suguha. My little boy is back. He's back. And we're going to see him right now."

Suguha couldn't believe it. How did… how did that happen? When did he…?

They'd been visiting her brother—well, cousin, but to her he will always be her big brother—Kazuto only the day before and back then he'd still looked the same way he had for the past two years. What changed now? To tell the truth, Suguha didn't' care.

She almost broke the passenger door of their car as she ran inside without a single word to say. She fastened the seatbelt and looked ahead, feeling happier, feeling so much more alive than she had felt in a long time. Kazuto was awake. Her onii-chan was finally awake. Finally free.

The true meaning of the words started sinking in only once her mother left the garage and drove out in the street. Suguha's lips trembled and she had a feeling her face was going to get distorted from the big smile that she simply couldn't get rid of, even as tears started gathering in her eyes.

"W-when did—when did they call you?" she asked. "Is he all right? Did he say anything?"

Her mother shook her head. "I don't know, I don't know. I didn't let the lady finish. The moment she said he's awake, I told her to prepare us the passes. I think she mentioned something about the visiting hours passing, but I hung up. He's awake, Suguha. Your brother is back. My boy is back. Finally!"

"Yes!" Suguha shouted as tears streamed down her face. "Finally, finally. You say he woke up just now? C-can he even talk? Is he going to be okay?"

"We'll know when we get there, Sugu… Oh god, I don't think I'll be able to drive home…"

Suguha actually giggled as she wiped the tears from her face. This wasn't Alfheim, where her face would look good no matter what happened. It wouldn't be very nice of her if she greeted her brother with eyes swollen from crying, after all.

Then something occurred to her, a thought too bizarre to be true. An image of the Spriggan boy from ALO appeared before her eyes and for a brief moment, Suguha thought she saw Kazuto's face instead of Kirito's. However, there was no enough resemblance, she was sure of it. Kirito had darker skin and different hair and a troublemaking expression she would never see on her brother's face, but if there was a possibility that Asuna was an SAO player, then what if Kirito, too…?

_Impossible,_ she thought, albeit uncertainly. _There's no way that's possible._

Then she giggled awkwardly at her own stupidity and sniffed.

It wasn't until sometime later that another scary realization hit her.

Kirigaya Kazuto.

Kirito.

Suguha's eyes opened wide, along with her mouth. She didn't know how she must have looked to her mother, but at that point Suguha had different problems than to think about appearance.

_Oh, god! Dear god, no! But…but he was never much good when it came to choosing names, was he?_

Suguha sniffed once again. Then she started laughing. It eventually got so uncontrollable that she couldn't stop even when she wanted to. She didn't notice when her laughter changed into full-blown bawling which was even harder to keep under warps. She continued crying and sobbing and bawling without stopping even when her mother took a chance to pat her on the shoulder, so many thoughts and emotions conflicting inside of her that she didn't know how she felt anymore. Why was she crying? She didn't have any reason to cry at all! She should be laughing, cheering, not crying!

Still, the tears wouldn't stop.

* * *

Kirito didn't know when his position changed from standing to lying. Was it when the countdown started, when it ended? Or was it later? He couldn't tell. He wasn't even trying to. These were probably the last seconds before the NerveGear sent the signal that would inevitably kill him.

That was the least he deserved, seeing as he'd once again failed Asuna.

But it wasn't coming. Not the pain, not the merciless headache he was waiting for, nothing. The most he felt was a strangely cold surface he was lying on and several different scents, none of which could relate to Alfheim.

Kirito didn't understand. He should have been dead by now, yet he was still lying with his eyes shut, waiting for final damnation. Or did it already come? He didn't know. He'd never felt worse in his life, though, so that had to count for something.

But as no changes seemed to be forthcoming, he decided to find out for himself.

Slowly, he opened his eyes, but he was forced to immediately shut them at the blinding light that pierced through. Something watery gathered there and once he tried again, slower, his vision was muddled and somewhat tinted with something bluish-grey. The watery substance around his eyes then slid down his face, leaving a slight trail behind.

Kirito realized those were tears.

He blinked several times to clear his vision and was greeted by the sight of a slightly grayish ceiling and a single neon light unit, but it wasn't working. Kirito looked further around, catching sight of several large machines, distinctly grayish walls that he had a feeling were actually white, something that had to be an air conditioner and a window covered by the curtain. He couldn't see anything outside the room because of it, but the gloomy light of a cloudy day still managed to protrude.

With a feeling of panic strangely increasing, Kirito tried lifting his arm, but that required so much more effort than he remembered. Seeing every single bone and blood vessel outlined on his hand, he didn't exactly feel surprised.

There was no way he would be able to hold a sword with that hand.

Realizing that shook him the most by far and the more he looked at his hand in shock, the more details he noticed. The catcher had to be the needle stabbed at the back of his hand, held in position by a small piece of tape.

Still, he didn't believe.

His hand was shaking from the effort it was taking him to keep it up in the air, but Kirito didn't let it stop him. He put his index and middle finger together and pulled down through the air.

Nothing happened. There was no sound effect, no menu showing up.

He tried again, then tried the same thing with another hand, but nothing happened.

Inevitable truth was finally beginning set in and Kirito noticed his vision being disrupted by another flow of tears. His lips trembled even as he tried to blink the tears away, but it wasn't working. The deathly quiet room was suddenly beginning to get louder and Kirito became aware of his ragged breathing, the sounds of movement and faint noise of traffic somewhere on the outside, along with the conversations from out the hall. He attempted moving his head, but there was something holding it steadily in place.

His hands moved to get it off, but it wasn't until something pulled at his chin that he remembered what he'd forgotten. The fumbling with the strip took a bit longer as his fingers were hard to work with, but once it was finally over, Kirito managed to pull the piece of equipment off his head.

Lifting it was hard enough that he nearly dropped it. He felt that his elbows had caught onto something and as Kirito tried to sit up and disentangle them, they accidentally got removed completely. It turned out to be electrodes, monitoring his heart beat and other vitals, but their removal produced a beeping sound, followed quickly by a loud alarm.

Kirito felt almost as if something was piercing his eardrums. He shut his eyes and tried to cover his ears, not even taking the notice of the hair that had over time grown enough to cover both, but the pain didn't last too long and Kirito put his hands down, resting them on the deep blue headgear that was now in his lap.

He removed the locks of hair from his eyes and looked at it, remembering how shiny it had been when he bought it, but the one in his hands seemed to have been only moderately maintained; the power was off and the color was peeling off, revealing a metal alloy used for its basic construction.

_Is it over? Is this your way of saying that I've done what I've done and there is no going back?_

His heart clenched tightly and he closed his eyes.

No, this wasn't over. It wouldn't be over until Asuna was with him in the real world as well… or until he died. He knew that now. He was still hoping that Asuna had already been logged out, but the much stronger part of him still doubted that possibility. If that were true, Asuna would have found a way of contacting him right away. If that were true, he wouldn't be having this feeling that something bad was going to happen. As soon as he got a chance, he could go back to Alfheim and try again and again and again, until he finally succeeded. There was nothing that could make him give up now.

It still hurt, though.

The feeling of loss and helplessness was still burning deep inside of him and Kirito didn't know how to deal with it. If he'd failed now, what gave him any reason to think that he would do any better in the future? This battle had helped him learn nothing at all other than the fact that his strength just wasn't enough. Even seven of them, all rather skillful players, didn't get anywhere close to the goal. So how could he go back and succeed? His stats were all maxed out. Perhaps there were a few that could still be mastered, but was that going to help any?

Kirito remembered the way he felt when the sword in his hand broke in pieces. He still remembered how his hand had shaken as the weapon dispersed. A part of him had gone along with it. He still remembered how he'd felt during the minute-long wait.

It wasn't much better than how he was feeling now.

At the sound of rushed footsteps, he looked up and saw a woman breaking into the room. She froze two steps in, eyes wide and panicked, hair disheveled and sticking out from a braid, all topped off with a pair of spectacles. Then she took two steps back and yelled at somebody who was standing outside.

"Call the doctor! Call the doctor! He's awake!"

"Dear god! I thought he died! I'm calling the family!"

The nurse didn't reply, instead she focused on Kirito and approached him with relief written plainly all over her face.

"How are you feeling, Kirigaya-kun? Is there anything you want me to get you? Some water? Food? You'll have to lie down so that we can make estimations for how long it will take you to recover, but I can still bring you something."

Kirito shook his head. He didn't feel like either eating or drinking at the moment.

The nurse walked over to his side and took a good look at his hand, from where he'd inadvertently pulled out the IV needle.

"Are you sure? Are you absolutely sure about that? Just say it and I'll make sure it gets to you, okay?" she said as she fumbled over the drawers and took out a piece of cotton wool, using it to wipe the tiny trail of blood on his hand.

"A…su…na," he croaked, his unused throat burning as he spoke her name. "Find… Asu…na…"

"Oy, oy, don't strain yourself," the nurse said as she threw the piece of wool in a trash bin in the corner. "Take it easy. It's going to take some time for everything to go back to normal. Now just wait a bit for the doctor to get here, run some tests and who knows, maybe you'll be in with the lucky guys and go home in a few days."

Kirito would have liked to say that the prospect of going home soon made him feel tiny bit better, but the truth was much harsher. How could he even think of going home now? The only thing he felt he had the right to do was put the Nerve Gear back on and resume from where he'd stopped, but that clearly wasn't going to be a possibility now

The next twenty minutes after the doctor showed up and started with the question and answers session he'd spent mostly in a daze and confusion, thinking on his conflicted feelings and failures, along with all the possible ways their quest on the World Tree could have ended. In reality, he didn't feel much different, his real body's condition not withstanding. He still felt like the power was practically torn out of his hands and he was thrown in a dark room, locked inside and told to find a way out on his own. Actually, it was even worse than that, as this wasn't just about him. It was about Asuna, too. And about Klein, Amber, Tramp and all the others who had tried to help him.

Who knows what they were thinking now. He needed to find a way to contact them, let them know that he was not dead and it was not over, that he could still fight and he still would, only how? Much less the issue of his inability to log in—and that is not to even mention the irony as a day ago the thing he'd wanted the most was to log out—the problem was that he didn't have any idea how to contact _anyone_. From all the people he'd met, it was only Asuna's real name that he knew and—

Kirito was forced to halt his thoughts at the sounds coming from out the door. The doctor was still inside, doing yet another quick check up on something or other when the door burst open and two people ran inside, quickly followed by the nurse.

Kirito looked up at the ones at fault for the noise and was met face to face with the person he would have recognized anywhere, at any time, even if twenty years were to pass. She didn't even look like she'd changed much, perhaps only looking a bit older and quite a bit upset.

She was staring at him with wide eyes and Kirito tried to think of something to say, maybe to apologize for causing so much trouble, or to simply say something corny like 'I'm back', but he didn't get a chance. She crossed the room in two paces and wrapped him in a hug that pushed all the air out of his lungs.

At the side, he could hear the doctor protesting, asking them to wait for a few minutes until he was done, but his presence wasn't registered.

Kirito felt yet another pair of hands hugging him and he recognized the dark hair as the one that belonged to his sister.

"You're back, you're back… oh my god, you're back!"

Kirito's face softened at his mother—aunt's—sobs as she buried her head in his shoulder and sobbed. He reflected that it was really the first time he'd ever seen her acting this way. Once again he tried to find something to say, but was there anything he could say in this situation?

Then he also heard Suguha sobbing and something inside of him broke.

During SAO—and even ALO, as he had learned—holding back your emotions was impossible. So while in the real world he might have resisted crying half the times he'd cried in both games, at this time that was the last thing he was thinking about.

Even against his will, everything came pouring out. He thought of every time he'd felt alone, every moment he'd spent fighting so that he'd be able to get out, every second he'd spent with Asuna and every single fear and regret that had been haunting him for years. For the second time, he felt there was somebody there he could hold onto, if even for the briefest times and he reached out, hugging them back with all the strength he could, which didn't account for much. His eyes stung and his facial muscles ached, but it couldn't even compare to how much his heart did.

* * *

"… I think this gives you a good enough basis to start an investigation, no?"

"How should I put this, Yuuki-san? While I can understand exactly what you are insinuating, your suspicions aren't enough to justify the actions you are asking us to take. The evidence simply isn't enough."

Yuuki Kouichirou groaned in annoyance and exasperation. "Well, what more do you want, Kikuoka? What were you thinking you could _get_? They're unconscious, damn it! Even if they had something more solid to give you, they _can't_! I'm not even asking you to do something as bring the whole server down, I just need somebody to investigate it, someone who preferably isn't working in this company!"

"I would like to say that I understand where your suspicions are coming from, Yuuki-san, but the truth is, we can't simply launch an investigation based on the words of one person. Well, we could, but not nearly as fast as you're asking it from us. It would take time to get an approval when we're completely lacking any material evidence."

"Fine, then," Kouichirou snapped. "Do it at your pace, whatever. Just start doing it! I'll write you a statement or something if you need a piece of evidence. I'll even think up a story if that will get your assess moving."

"I'd prefer it if you stayed honest," Kikuoka replied calmly, to which Kouichirou snorted.

"Then pull some strings, I don't know, just do something," he said. "It's three hundred people, Kikuoka. One of them is also my sister. I'm not going to quit until I have them all back, you hear that?"

"I assure you, I will personally look into it. I'll give you a call as soon as I get something."

"That'd be appreciated," Kouichirou mumbled in a significantly calmer voice. He then hung up and threw his phone onto the sofa that rested in the other part of the office before dropping down at his chair and taking deep breaths in order to calm down.

_At this point, it looks like my promise is going to hell, damn it… _

He wanted to break something. Kouichirou usually didn't think of himself as a particularly violent and aggressive person, but at the moment, the thing he wanted the most was to grab something and smash it against the wall.

It was his own fault, for the most part, giving promises that he wasn't sure he'd be able to keep. It was neither the first, nor would it be the last time, but it was definitely the first time that it really counted. He'd promised to both Asuna and himself that he'd get her out of there in three days, but at this rate, things really weren't going as planned. The little bit he knew about Kikuoka Seijirou and their so called quasi-friendship had been what he was leaning on, but he couldn't have possibly known that even his actions would be restricted without proper documentation and evidence first, none of which Kouichirou had. He was suspecting that there was something going on in the research center of RECTO, but Kikouka and his team should have been the ones to be able to get the evidence.

Only, in this case, it was all turned upside down. Kikuoka needed the evidence he was supposed to find in order to start looking for it… yeah. Kouichirou hadn't thought through that part as well as he'd thought he had.

Somebody knocked on the door and he was tempted to yell that he wasn't interested, but the door opened before he got a chance to do it. It was a bit surprising, as it was Sunday afternoon and Kouichirou wasn't even supposed to be in his office, but as he realized who the person who knocked was, he couldn't honestly say he was surprised.

"Sugou?"

Sugou Nobuyuki, the recently appointed CEO of RECTO research department stood at the door, slightly taken aback.

"I… didn't think I'd find you here," he admitted after a moment.

Kouichirou raised a curious eyebrow. "Then why exactly did you open the door?"

Sugou shrugged. "Amayame Jun-san asked me to see if you were still here. She said she'd seen you enter the office and wasn't sure if you were still in here. I personally thought you were supposed to be on your way to Kyoto."

"Do you always take orders from your subordinates?" Kouichirou asked with a groan as he reached for the tablet that was resting on his desk and quickly opened several chat programs. Indeed, there were several messages from Jun there, but none of them important. Actually, that excuse was a pretty good save, considering this was Sugou.

"I'd like to think of it as having a good relationship with them," Sugou replied icily, to which Kouichirou almost laughed.

"Yeah, right," he said with a handwave. Anyway, now that we got that out of the way, why are you here? I thought _you_ were supposed to be on that flight to Kyoto in twenty minutes."

"And I heard you were, too, yet here you are," Sugou replied easily.

"Well, I'm not going. You can say hi to dad in my stead, though. You can also tell him to drink an aspirin or two. I'm sure he already has a headache."

That certainly ruined Sugou's stoic façade.

"W-what? You're not—why aren't you coming?!"

At that, Kouichirou couldn't resist smirking. Those meetings as of late were becoming such a hassle that half the time he hadn't bothered to appear at all. He had some leeway, seeing as he was the son of the owner and not exactly a director. Kouichirou had absolutely no qualms about using that status, but it was still a problem when he decided to miss five consecutive meetings for various reasons. Now at least he had a valid one, not that he was going to tell Sugou about that. He doubted Sugou had much to do with the conspiracy he thought was happening, but there was no way Kouichirou was going to trust him that easily.

Heck, it felt like he was betraying the years-long friendship, but technically, that friendship ended when Sugou started behaving strange around Asuna. Lame jokes not withstanding, seeing him kissing her hand every time they met was unnerving. At first, Kouichirou had thought he'd been reading into it too much as Sugou was always behaving like it was a joke and Asuna had never seemed particularly bothered, but it got mildly bothering when his mom got this bright idea to call for an engagement, and it got worse when his dad had agreed.

Kouichirou had thought that there was at least one sane person around him, but Sugou had seemed actually both surprised and honored, so it got worse tenfold when he agreed.

Yeah. That had been the last straw. Kouichirou still wondered how come he'd never gone out of his way to beat him up. Perhaps the only thing keeping him from doing it were the things that happened after.

Kouichirou still didn't know how Asuna would react if she'd heard any of it, so he thought there was at least something acceptable about the entire SAO incident. The idea got called off immediately after it became clear she wasn't waking up and his dad got his sanity back enough so that he said he wouldn't agree to such a thing until Asuna herself confirmed she was fine with it. Kouichirou suspected it was his way of hoping that she'd be back, regardless of what she decided in the end.

Still, he didn't know what his dad had been thinking when he'd put Sugou in charge of research department. Sure, Sugou was good when it came to actual work, but being CEO required a ton of other skills that involved boring meetings and even more studying. Heck, it required some skills called communication skills, which Sugou was just about completely devoid of.

However, seeing that jealous, envying look on his face was enough to bring Kouichirou out of his stupor, if only for the moment.

"I called in sick," he answered the question, completely deadpan. "Now I can even get extra credit as Jun is going out of her way to think I'm overworking myself. She's a sweetie. I won't convince you to let her change departments, no?"

Again, Sugou looked taken aback, but he pulled himself together quickly. "…She's the one declining that offer, not I."

"Yeah, well, you can't have it all."

"So what are you going to do when she figures you out?" Sugou asked in contempt. "I was under impression she doesn't forgive easily."

"What has she got to forgive? It's my problem if I'm skipping work. Heck, we both know I'd be fired long ago if I wasn't who I am, plus as good as I am. She can't complain so long as I get my job done, no? That doesn't involve sitting in a room with bunch of old men arguing about the possibility of bankruptcy. When they need somebody for a press conference or dealings, yeah, sure I'll go, but these mock-attempts in getting me to become uh, what do they call it? Responsible? Err, I don't think that's it. I'm doing that just fine. Reliable…? Uh, no. Still not a fit… I'm pretty sure it's starting with an r…"

At that point, Kouichirou had to quit on his sarcasm as his phone started ringing and he pushed himself up, walking over to the sofa all while berating himself for throwing the phone away in the first place. That poor thing suffered enough even when it wasn't being thrown around.

Seeing an unregistered caller ID, he actually made a pause and looked in Sugou's direction—Sugou, who'd taken the freedom to lean on the edge of Kouichirou's desk and observe him curiously.

"Aren't you going to answer?" he asked.

Kouichirou resisted the urge to stick his tongue out and answered the called with a flippant, "Yes?"

"Uh, is that you, um, Yuuki-san?"

At the inquisitive look from Sugou, Kouichirou decided to, instead of asking who it was, simply reply with, "Yep."

It proved to be a good choice as it gave Sugou impression that whoever was calling was somebody Kouichirou was familiar with, plus, the caller identified themselves merely a moment later.

"Um, this is Densen Michelle. I… I think you know—"

"Yeah, I know," Kouchiriou quickly said as he mentally tracked down every detail he could about the name. In truth, it wasn't much, but it was enough to give him a general idea who was calling.

"Please, I need a favor. This is urgent. Can you look up a name and tell me who it is? Please? I need it urgently, it's really bad."

"Hey, slow down. Now, from the start, what are you talking about?"

"Look, I know this is a lot from me to ask, but I don't know who else to call, please!"

At that, Kouichirou frowned. Normally, he wouldn't hesitate to tell her to call somebody else. It wasn't the first time somebody he didn't know well at all called him and asked for a favor, but there was the urgency in her voice that left him feeling strangely inclined to ask what he could help her with. But, there was also the fact that Sugou was present and that whatever it was, it didn't sound like a topic that could be discussed over the phone.

"Fine," he sighed. "Just give me a general overview and I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you! But this is really big. Kirito. You know who that is, right?"

Kouichirou gave a non-committing mumble that she took as an affirmative, which pretty much was the case.

"He's dead!"

Kouichirou nearly dropped his phone. "Huh?"

"In-game, I mean! He died during the game and his name is gone from our party list. It's like his account doesn't exist anymore, I don't know. Please, can you look into it? Just check his real identity, see if he's alive, because I… I don't…"

"Yeah… I'll… I'll do that," Kouichirou breathed out despite himself. "I'll give you a call later. I'm a bit busy now, okay?"

"Okay," the girl sniffed. "Thanks. But—there's more."

"What else?" he asked in exasperation, but also worry, as this news was far from being good.

"Sometime yesterday, we lost Asuna. I don't mean in the sense of dying in-game! The last I heard, she was perfectly fine, but for some reason she got teleported somewhere to the top, what should be the entire goal of the game. And then we lost all contact. That's why Kirito died—he tried to get there! Please, you're the only one who can do anything now. Nobody has a clue what's going on."

"G-got it," Kouichirou said, barely keeping his voice from trembling. "I'll let you know."

He hung up, gripping the phone in his hand tightly. He took several deep breaths to calm down, convince himself there was no reason to panic as he had Asuna's room especially monitored ever since he first heard of what was really happening. Still, it was bothering and if this guy, Kirito, is truly dead, then finding a way to get the others out of the game—

"Is something the matter?" Sugou asked, but it hardly registered in Kouichirou's mind.

"Nope," he replied with his mouth on autopilot. He only just realized that with how loud that girl's voice was, Sugou had to have heard at least a part of it. He didn't show it, not really, but he was looking awfully curious.

"You look a bit pale," he noted. "Who called? Did something happen?"

At that point, Kouichirou was really starting to get frustrated by all the questions.

"My girlfriend's pregnant," he snapped, not even thinking about the bizarreness of his statement. "And I gotta go, make sure nobody hears about it or whatever," he added as he reached for his tablet and moved to leave the office, then stopped. "Make sure my part of the work at the meeting is done, too."

He then walked out of the office in the rush as he dialed a phone number he knew by heart and simultaneously activated the search engine on his tablet. The phone rang several times before anyone picked up and that was at the point where Kouichirou had already entered the elevator and chosen the floor he wanted to go to, his finger nervously tapping against the tablet screen.

If he were the tablet in question, he'd be annoyed as hell, but right now he couldn't really care.

"You know you shouldn't call while I'm working," answered an exasperated female voice.

"Sorry, Jun, but I need you to do something for me."

"Oh, so that's why you're calling? Well, forget it."

"This is urgent, Jun. Real urgent, so please don't make this conversation longer than necessary as we both know you'll agree."

Kouichirou nervously tapped his foot on the floor while he waited for her to answer or for the elevator to stop, whichever came first. Still, he had a clear image in his head of the red-haired bespectacled girl rolling her eyes.

"…Are you asking me as a friend or a boss?" she asked finally.

"Both. As a boss, I'm asking you to do it and not mention it to anyone else. As a friend I'm going to make up for it with dinner tonight. So, what do you say?"

"You're such an ass. It's your fault I'm working the late shift. I won't be done before eleven. Do you have any idea how hard it is to maintain servers that only start getting busy at that hour?"

"Then we're lucky we can still order a takeout at midnight, no?"

"… Ugh, fine. What is it that you want?"

"I need you to look up the personal data of one of SAO players, is that okay with you?"

"Well, it's not a problem, but aren't those information available to you, too? Why bother me about it?"

"No, no. This is one of the three hundred who didn't wake up. Name's Kirito. Just get me his real name and hospital phone number, can you do that? Just send them to this number."

"Ki-ri-to… Okay, got it. I'm expecting you to pick me up, though. I'm not helping you get away from those meetings for nothing."

Kouichirou managed a grateful laugh. "You got it. See ya."

Just then, the door of the elevator opened and he emerged at the parking line. Sugou, the meeting and all the other responsibilities be damned, he had other problems now. By the time he reached his car, one of the newest Toyota models in black color, the message from Jun arrived. He quickly forwarded the message to that Michelle girl and dialed the number of the hospital as he slammed the door shut and turned on the engine, hoping for the best when it came both to this kid surviving and Asuna. Because no matter how long it took, no matter how hard it got, he was going to get her out. He owed her at least that much.

* * *

**Author's Note**: Next chapter, we get to see how Asuna's doing. Buckle up, as this is still far from over!


	17. Chapter XVII

_Is it enough to love?  
Is it enough to breathe?  
Somebody rip my heart out  
And leave me here to bleed  
Is it enough to die?  
Somebody save my life  
I'd rather be anything but ordinary, please_

_**—Avril Lavigne, Anything but ordinary**_

**Link to Reality**

Chapter XVII

_November 20__th_

Klein reached for the glass resting before him and downed its contents in one long gulp. Then he slammed it down, ordered another and finished it just as quickly. Of four people keeping him company, only two of them seemed to have any sort of reaction. Ichigo, the leader of the Flaming Wolves guild, snorted in her own drink while Amber, who could almost be called the sub-leader of the aforementioned guild rolled her eyes.

"You're being stupid," the latter girl said. "I can see why, but seriously, trying to drink your sorrows in virtual alcohol is pointless, Klein. It won't ever work."

"I'm not trying to drink my sorrows," Klein replied stubbornly.

"Then what _are_ you doing? You can waste all the money you want, but it still won't help."

"Just let him be," Ichigo interjected with a sigh. "Although if you really want to get drunk, why don't you do it in the real world? That's bound to help."

"Don't encourage him! And stop giving him ideas! It's already bad enough he's trying to get my sister to give him alcohol, I don't need him going to another place and getting completely hammered."

"For the last time, I'm not trying to get drunk," Klein tried to convince them. Though honestly, this was slowly beginning to bother him. How much would it take it for them to just drop the subject? "Oh, and stop talking like I'm not here, okay?"

"Not okay," Amber replied. "Seriously, what has gotten into you? You need to calm down. He is fine. A bit shaken, according to the nurse I talked to, but fine. You need to get over it, okay?"

Klein shut his eyes and bowed his head. The truth was, Amber was absolutely right, but she was also a hypocrite. She could say whatever the hell she wanted to, but Klein could see it. It was plain that she was even more affected by their failure than he was. It got noticeable in the way she simply never mentioned his name aloud and every time she said he was alright, her voice would sound a bit different.

The details were small, not something that just about any person could identify, but unlike Amber, Klein had seen people die for real. The pain never went away, not really. He'd just learned to deal with it. He'd learned to recognize it in others, too and the way Amber was trying to work around it wasn't going to work. Not an hour after they had lost the game did they get the confirmation that Kirito was alive, but it wasn't going to erase the time Amber had spent dreading that he was dead because she hadn't been fast enough to help him. It's just not that simple. The image was going to stick for a while and he wondered how it would influence her way of fighting in the future. Klein had to get over it the hard way and he never got a chance for a proper break, but Amber had a path filled with thorns ahead of her. It wasn't going to be nearly as hard or nearly as painful, but it would never just go away, either.

At the moment in that bar, Ame and Klein were the only ones not the members of the Flaming Wolves guild. It was actually completely devoid of real players and the five of them were the only ones there besides the NPCs. That was significant because out of five of them, Ame, Amber and Klein were the only ones present during the battle. Ichgio and this Gill guy heard most of the story, but it didn't change the fact that they were out of the loop. When Amber had told them, she hadn't gone too far into the details, but it had been enough as Ichigo's reaction had been pretty fired up and upset.

However, as the talk between the girls ended in the real world, Klein had no idea exactly how she'd taken it. Still, it couldn't be too bad because, unlike Gill, she seemed to be aware that it wasn't a good thing, yet she was looking pretty calm at the moment.

Gill, on the other hand, only regretted not coming because it would be too bad to miss that kind of a fight. Klein had been pissed when he heard that. Ame, however, had been faster to react. She'd punched him in the nose, gave him a long lesson for being an insensitive prick and told him to get lost. That had been just about everything she'd spoken for the better part of the day. Gill had been angry at first, asking for a fight after that, but she didn't even look at him once. However, Gill wouldn't stop trying to get her to respond.

"So what are you doing now?" he asked to her, in order to fill the awkward silence and for his own sake, but the Undine girl ignored him yet again.

She was focused on the HUD windows floating before her, dozens of them. She was frowning slightly as she occasionally typed something and the drink Amber had ordered for her had not been touched.

They had been sitting there for almost two hours.

"Ame?" Amber asked hesitantly. "What _are_ you doing?"

This time, she reacted.

"Adding oil to fire," she said with a frown.

Amber waited for her to explain, but as she didn't seem to be anywhere close to doing it, she turned to Ichigo with a grimace.

The Imp girl had a tiny crease on her forehead when she said, "Amber and Klein might know what's going on, but I'm out of the loop. You mind elaborating?"

Ame rolled her eyes, but she closed most of the windows before looking at Ichigo directly. "I started the rumors about SAO players in ALO. It spread like wildfire, but as it always happens, what I've mentioned in the first post has now ended becoming something entirely different. They even came up with a nation-wide conspiracy as one of the causes. I'm fixing that."

"You've gotta be kidding me."

"Technically, I'm just sending everyone I know _everything_ I know about how Kirito and Asuna ended up here, along with a way of recognizing players as SAO players. The more people know, the more the administrators can't get rid of it. Nobody can. They won't be able to get rid of it even if they trace it back to me and ban me, plus they can't accuse me of anything if they can't prove the rumors are false. Do you understand now?"

Ichigo nodded. "That's not bad… Actually, you seem to know a lot more about this than I do and I'm supposed to be a journalist. Or at least, I used to be."

Ame shrugged in a modest way. "It's pretty obvious. At least, it's the way it's happening at my school. So I thought, if it works there, then why wouldn't it work here? Unlike there, at least maybe it could help with something, rather than cause trouble."

"I just don't get it why you don't call the police or the hotline or something," Gill complained. "That'd make it all easier."

"Tried that," Amber reminded them bitterly, in turn getting two very odd looks from her guild-mates. She drew back a little. "What? I talked to some guy in charge of that, Ki—Ke… I'm not sure about the name. Anyway, apparently he got my number from Asuna's brother and wanted to confirm my story. He sounded interested, but also like it was curiosity, nothing more, then said he can't do anything without evidence. So yeah, that won't work."

"That makes your idea that much better," Ichigo told Ame curiously. "Huh. I take it you're excellent at your studies?"

"Oh, please," Ame snorted and put her thumb and index finger a millimeter from the other. "This is how much it'll take for me to fail sociology. English language and the literature classes, though, you won't find anyone better than I am."

Ichigo laughed, then turned to Klein, as if she only just remembered something. "Hey, why don't you go give that kid a visit, huh? I'm sure he's dying of boredom, being stuck in a hospital twenty-four/seven. Besides, it would obviously do you some good."

"But—"

"I'll log out, send you the name of the hospital," Amber offered. "I don't know exactly where you live, but it shouldn't be too far. Just wait a few minutes."

She then proceeded to log out and Klein sat with his mouth half-open.

"I still find it hard to believe about all this SAO and ALO connection," Gill complained suddenly, before stretching his arms ahead of him on the table and lowering his chin on them. "I mean, we know it's true, but I don't get how. Plus, ugh, it's creepy."

Ame turned to him with rage burning in her eyes. "If you're going to be such an insensitive bastard—"

"Um, excuse me!"

Her head immediately snapped towards the Undine that had just stopped right by their table. Her eyes narrowed and she asked him suspiciously, "What do you want?"

"I'm pretty new around here," the Undine player explained nervously. "I've started playing just recently, but then I started hearing some things I just heard you mention. Is it indeed true that the SAO players are now in Alfheim and can't wake up?"

Ame shrugged. "Would they be trying to keep it under warps so hard if it wasn't?"

"I suppose that's true. But I must say, it is still confusing. How could something like that be done?"

Ame took a deep breath, "Well, you better sit down if you want to hear that story, as it's a pretty long one, but yeah. Just watch where you sit—a friend of ours just logged out and should be back in a few minutes."

Just as the Undine player started nodding and sat at the corner, Amber materialized back where she'd disappeared from.

"Sent it," she told Klein, then spotted the newcomer. "Uh, and who are you?"

"Sorry, sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Chrysheight. I just arrived to Arun, not five minutes ago."

"Oh, right. I'm Amber," she said with a smile, then turned to Klein. "Anyway, I'd advise you to go already, as the visiting hours are almost over."

"You were pretty fast," Gill commented, to which she smirked.

"I've been waiting for this, obviously." She then turned to Klein. "Aren't you going to go?"

His eyes having been focused on the newcomer Undine, Klein was a little late with his reaction. In the end, he nodded quickly and said, "Warn the other customers I might end up sitting on their heads when I log in."

Amber smiled. "Don't worry."

Klein nodded in appreciation. "Thanks," he said.

"Don't forget to say hi in my name," Ichigo added, then looked down at the table with a tinge of melancholy. "Kirito and I didn't exactly part on the best terms."

"Okay," he agreed, but for a moment he thought he'd seen the Undine, Chrysheight, looking strangely surprised. However, he didn't have much interest in that and besides, he logged out before he could confirm it.

* * *

Asuna looked towards the skies in the distance and anything else really, just so she wouldn't have to look at the face of the man who once again brought her a meal.

Some time ago, another protection had been put up around the cage and Asuna could no longer even put her hand through the bars. The most she could do was look and curse the ones who had done it to her. However, that had brought another good thing – the man now had to get inside in order to give her food, which had so far helped her piece together almost the entire password locking her in this place. Asuna wished she could have gotten a chance to use it immediately, but her last visitor, the one she had never seen before, had warned her food would be coming so she didn't want to take the risk. Seeing as how it's had been over an hour since then, she could have easily done it already, but oh well. She had her opportunity now.

She glanced distastefully towards the food placed on the table, but she didn't speak.

The man who brought it didn't care about it. He left it on the table, quickly typed the password, then walked out.

Asuna watched him walk away, but her mind was on that mysterious man who had shown up earlier that day. It was the first time anyone had visited her since she'd been imprisoned and only thanks to him complaining about a five PM meeting did she now have any idea as to what time it was in the real world.

Oberon, was that what he said his name was? He'd also mentioned something about her being some Queen Titania or something, but Asuna was pretty sure he was taking the role playing a bit too far.

Still, one thing that was undeniable was that her looks had changed. Her hair had returned to her old color and had somehow grown beyond its normal length. Her clothes had also changed, only into something she would have never seen herself wear. It was such a revealing outfit that it should have been banned, yet here she was, wearing it.

It was also undeniable that it was that man who chose it, however. The way he'd looked at her left Asuna feeling plain wrong, as if he was taking in every detail of her appearance and it made her feel nauseous. It didn't help that in the brief two minutes that he'd spent inside the cage with her, he'd violated her personal space, had touched her hair awkwardly and had been totally unaffected when Asuna used the only weapon she had and punched him in the face.

He'd had the gall to laugh, even. If that wasn't disturbing, Asuna had no idea what else could be.

He'd complimented her, but also gave her a subtle warning that such behavior wasn't going to be tolerated. Asuna could care less. She'd made sure he knew that much, then she'd demanded to be released.

Naturally, she didn't get that, but it at least supplied her with some useful information. The first was the last number of the lock code, which Asuna was intending to use in a few minutes, after she was sure the scientist wasn't anywhere close to see her. The second one was that he was a businessman, a head of a department, even, which meant that he had to be working for her father. Asuna tried to recall all the department heads she knew, but sadly, that was only the woman leading the Human Resources department and this was most definitely not a woman. The third was that even he had no absolute control over her account, no matter what she'd thought before.

The last one had been an accidental slip, in fact. Asuna wasn't even sure if the man knew he'd said it, but his quiet words had made it clear. He'd said, "Lucky it turned out you couldn't log out. Otherwise, that would've ruined everything." That made it clear that even the administrators weren't forcing them to stay logged in. Asuna thought that information would be relevant if she could somehow get it to Kirito, but at this rate, she had to get herself out first.

She'd long since accepted the fact that Kirito wouldn't be coming. She had a feeling it would be the case from the moment her second message failed to get through. He could try, but would it work? Asuna doubted it. So she'd accepted the fact that she was on her own and this was the result of her taking things in her own hands – she was several clicks away from getting out.

By what Oberon had told her, the five PM meeting was something he would be late to, so it was safe to assume that when he'd visited, it had been sometime about five. It was now about an hour and a half later, which was yet another good thing. It gave her a general idea how long she should wait and Asuna thought it would be for the best if she escaped after midnight. Chances of somebody working late shift would be greatly reduced and she'd most likely have no trouble getting out.

But the problem was, after a few hours, she'd once again lose the track of time. Alfheim did that to her. So if she wanted to do anything worthwhile, she needed to do it now because she knew she had about ten more hours before that man came to bring her food again. At worst, she could jump off the World Tree and hope for the best.

Yeah, that might work, if everything else failed.

Asuna took a deep breath, balled her fists and approached the single machine separating her from her freedom.

_Eight… Eleven… three… two…_

She paused before pressing the last number.

What if it needed a proper account ID? Or the computer registered it itself? For all Asuna knew, the password was just the way to give her hope when in truth her account was completely blocked from leaving.

She shuddered. That would be really bad, but also really smart on their part. Still, she didn't want to waste time.

As she touched the number nine, she gulped. Something clicked once, twice. Then the cage door opened.

Hesitantly, Asuna made a first step out. Absolutely nothing pushed her back. She made the second step with more confidence and by the third, she was running.

_Floating city in the sky? _She wondered as she ran. Ame had told her the legend that rested behind the World Tree and the entire point of the game. So where was it? Where were the Alfs? She didn't understand.

_Is all this just a scam?_

But no, now wasn't the time to think about it. Even if there wasn't a single person in sight, she still needed to be careful.

She ran over the branch until she finally reached the part of it which connected to the trunk of the tree. The door opened on touch and Asuna felt relieved that they were so confident, but the more she thought about it, the stupider this looked.

Did they want her to run away? Shouldn't there be some kind of security? Or did they want her to explore around?

Well, though luck either way. Asuna had no intention on doing anything that might let her get caught.

The hallways inside were nothing she would have expected to see inside a VRMMO. The generics reminded her of the facilities featured in the movies or plain office buildings and were devoid of anything that could be called a landmark. Sure, as it only went one way, the map wasn't that necessary, but still, if she took a turn, Asuna had a feeling she'd get lost.

_Maybe I should just go back and jump off the tree…_

She decided against it quickly. She'd learned the hard way that she couldn't use her wings and jumping in this condition would be plain suicide. Right now, she didn't feel comfortable with that. She needed to find something she could use, either to log out or send a message, whatever, so long as she got a way to let the others know she was fine and was intending to bring this down from the inside.

_There!_

What had been a straight path now seemed to curve in a gentle arc. Thinking for a second, she started walking to the right. With faint footsteps, she continued forward and finally, something other than a wall appeared. On the inside light-grey wall of the curve, there was guide map. Asuna stared at it, trying to imprint it in her memory for later use, in case she needed it.

At the top of the rectangular map «Complete Laboratory Map: Floor C» was written in a nondescript font. Under that was a simple illustration. There were three circular floors, and she was currently in an outer passage of the top one. The straight passage that led to the bird cage was not displayed at all. However, on the lower floors, A and B there were various rooms labeled on the inner area, like «Data Reading Room», «Main Monitor Room», «Sleep Room» and others.

Movement between floors seemed to be performed by an elevator shown at the top of this floor's circular passage. One vertical line connected all three floors and continued a long way to connect to something down below. Following the elevator line, at the bottom was a large rectangular room. A chill ran down her spine when she read the label next to it: «Experimental Body Storage Facility». Just what was that supposed to mean?

Asuna took a deep breath before making her choice. The Main Monitor room would probably be the best place to go if she wanted to get out, but it was the latter location that bothered her. She found the elevator within a minute and chose the bottom button, finding it strange how this place could replicate the feeling of using a real elevator. It had been a long time since she'd felt it, but it was still familiar.

The moment the door opened, Asuna ran out. Being barefoot in this situation was a big plus and for that at least, she could thank Oberon.

The corridor she was in now was just as bland as the one at the upper floor had been.

Asuna didn't see a single person even after she reached the door of the experimental facility, but she still treaded with care.

If nothing else, then at least the administrators couldn't take her speed away. If somebody saw her, it would be long before they realized exactly where she'd disappeared a second later and even longer to figure out that, yes, indeed, she had punched them. Or at least that was her plan. How it would be implemented depended on her luck.

As soon as she entered the room, she gasped.

The size of it was incredible.

The room was as bland as all the others she'd seen so far, but the space extended into the distance and it almost reminded her of the size of her entire school event hall, which was oversized even for a rich school. Inside there were neatly arranged pillar-like things that barely came to her chin, but there were so many of them that Asuna had a feeling that playing hide and seek in there could actually be fun.

She quickly pushed the thought aside and walked over to the nearest one.

The surface of the pillar was smooth, but there were gaps in which something gently floated. Asuna's breath hitched in her throat when she recognized the floating object as nothing else but a human brain. The color wasn't the same and the thing had to be a tiny bit bigger, but just seeing it was borderline disturbing.

"W-what?"

Was this, too, a part of the game? Somehow, Asuna found that thought doubtful.

There had to be hundreds of the pillars there, roughly three hundred if her quick analysis was right. The idea that the numbers coincided with the numbers of the missing SAO players left her feeling on the edge and she hesitantly approached the pillar even more, to the point where she was almost touching it.

The numbers at the tiny screen kept changing and several different lights flashed, along with the words 'fear' and 'terror' and in Asuna's mind, an image of a distorted face appeared.

She drew back several steps immediately, then looked around the room in rush, looking for anything that might give her a hint as to what it was, but nothing helped. Finally, she attempted to touch it like she'd touch any in-game object to get some information on it, but the window that surfaced gave her a clear message: «Higher Authority Access Level required».

She frowned, then looked around once again. There had to be something—then she saw it.

Somewhere on the right from the door, off in the distance was a cube-like object floating in the air, one that she hadn't noticed right away. Asuna recognized it immediately.

The last time she'd seen it had been after Yui sacrificed herself to help her and Kirito, so there was no way she would ever forget about it. The only question was, why was the console here?

Asuna didn't want to think about it too deeply. Whatever was going on here, it could hardly be something good. She needed… she needed to get out.

As she reached the console, she couldn't believe her luck. A card was already inserted inside and the virtual keyboard appeared before her on her demand.

The administrator access given with the card was of level 3, whatever that meant. If that was good enough or not, Asuna had no idea. She wished Kirito were there—he'd be able to get a hang of it in a minute—but as it was, she was completely alone.

In the end, she decided for the obvious approach and searched for her own name—that should at least give her something. But as she'd done it, what sprang up before her was more than what she could have expected.

_Account Name: Asuna (f)  
Account ID: 33971-003  
Authority Access Level: 0_

_Account Data Transfer in progress: 94.2% complete  
Time remaining: 4 hours, 27 minutes_

_Tester Account No. 003  
Stat Data:-  
Object Class: Immortal Object_

_Accessibility:_

Asuna didn't try to read the list under the last word, it was just too long and just about everything was listed under «restricted». She hesitated for a moment, before clicking on one button that said clearly: «Remove All Restrictions». A window appeared to tell her that the removal went successfully and Asuna quickly opened her menu to try and log out.

Naturally, it wasn't that easy. The message that appeared was the same one she'd been getting endlessly before and as even that Oberon didn't seem to have access to controlling that, why would she have it from here?

But then the other fields drew her attention, primarily the account data transfer. She clicked on that and what she got only helped her tense up even more.

_Account Data Transfer:  
From account ID 33971-003 (Account name: Asuna) to account ID 2353302-001 (Account name: Titania)  
Status: 94.3% complete  
Time Remaining: 4 hours, 25 minutes, 54 seconds_

"No way," Asuna breathed. She quickly scanned the entire window until she found the «Abort Transfer» option. She clicked on that and another window opened, requesting for a password.

"Aw, no," Asuna moaned as she bit her lip, but even before her eyes, the blank field filled with six signs and seemed to be automatically affirmed. The following message was everything Asuna could have hoped for: «Transfer aborted». However, nothing about her changed. The little bit of hope she'd had that her old clothes would be back was for naught.

Still, that wasn't too important. The password inserting itself was mind-boggling, though. Was it set up that way or… Was it that the card-holder had automatic access or something? Or was somebody trying to help her? Asuna didn't dare hope, though.

She returned to the main page of her account and clicked on yet another field, «Authority Access Level». The offered options were zero, one and two and, while biting her lip, Asuna selected the option two. A little system access wouldn't hurt, especially as she wasn't really trying to cheat inside the game.

She tried to access Kirito's account as well, see if there was anything of use there or maybe a way she could increase his access level too, but there wasn't. Looking up his name gave no results at all. It worried her, so she tried to find him on her own friend list, but there was nothing. His name was gone.

Pushing the sudden fear away, Asuna accepted the fact that there wasn't much else she could do here without some instructions, first. She grabbed the system access card from the console and watched it shimmer before turning nearly completely see-through. She then walked to the closest pillar and tried to access the information again, but she got the same message she got moments prior.

"There's no way you'd be on my side, is there?" she asked with a pout. "On Kirito-kun's side, sure… On guild leader's too. But mine? No way. That's not fair."

Regardless, though, Asuna felt relieved. At least now she had some of the power back and precisely for that reason, she wanted to make her freedom even more obvious. She would have to look for Kirito, too, but that should be much easier now that she could do whatever she wanted. Plus, as a bonus she got the system access card. What more could she ask for?

In her Items list, she found her old blue-white outfit, along with light metal equipment she'd used. She equipped the first one right away, grateful to finally get rid of the revealing one-piece dress, but changing her hairstyle proved to be impossible. It required some additional fees and Asuna wasn't sure whether it was meant as the in-game currency or the real-world money, but at either rate, having her natural hair color back wasn't such a bad thing. As for the length… well, she'd try cutting it later, once she was as far away from here as possible.

She gave one last look to the pillars before leaving the room, making a silent promise to herself.

_Whatever is going on here, I'll get to the bottom of it and then, I'll get you out. Kirito-kun and I didn't fight for the sake of any of us becoming prisoners again. Rest assured, I'll set you free._

She then quickly ran back towards the elevator and entered inside.

However, she should have realized right away that everything had been going too smoothly. The moment the elevator reached the C floor and the door opened, she was confronted with faces of two people, only one of them familiar. The man who'd been bringing her food gasped and pointed his finger.

"How—?!"

But Asuna was panicking, too. Even now, they probably still had higher level access than she did, which meant that there was only one way she could go around this. She'd have to fight. She'd have to kill.

* * *

Thinking of himself as Kazuto again was a difficult feat. There was a number of times people called his name, but he failed to react properly because of it. It had been too long since anyone had used his first name. The last person had to have been Asuna, when he'd first told her about it, but now it was an every-twenty-minute occurrence that felt out-of place. Kirito felt wrong. But even more so, he felt powerless.

Suguha had, unintentionally, driven that point home just two hours ago.

Saying that Kirito was trying to avoid his family would be coming very close to the truth. Indeed, whenever his mother and sister had tried asking anything with minuscule SAO relation, he would answer as vaguely and unhelpfully as possible. They'd learned not to ask too deep after that, but it didn't help Kirito feel any better. If he were to be completely honest, they wouldn't like to hear what he had to say. How could they? Hearing that his life in there wasn't over yet… that he wanted to go back and didn't intend on returning without Asuna… Naturally, they wouldn't like it and he could understand.

That had been what he'd initially thought.

That had changed, though. Well, partially.

Appearance of Yuuki Koiuchirou merely two hours after he woke up had a part in it, too.

Asuna's brother couldn't have been more different than Kirito had imagined him to be: a businessman, responsible and caring adult, busy with his job and overwhelmed by his desire to set his sister free. Well, the latter part was undoubtedly true, but the former… not so much.

Kouichirou, for one, looked nothing like a businessman, rather like a student who'd been forced into a monkey suit and simply couldn't deal with it, or just didn't want to. He also threw the idea of sensibility and responsibility right out the window when he explained that the only reason why he managed to get in there even though the visitor hours were long past was because he'd first given the nurse a sob-story about him being Kirito's older cousin who hadn't seen him for years, but when that didn't work, bribed her. Needless to say, Kirito was now terrified more than ever.

But Kouichirou had showed that his interest extended only as so far to know how Kirito had logged out, his opinion on what happened to Asuna and in the end, he finished their conversation with a one-line warning that could be summed up as: "If I hear you merely looked at my sister the wrong way, you'll be begging me to kill you."

That hadn't been very encouraging.

However, the even bigger shocker was Suguha herself.

Kirito had no idea what she'd been aiming for when she first asked why he hadn't woken up with the rest of the players. He hadn't told her exactly everything, keeping it as a "I don't know. Maybe a bug or something," but that had been the wrong thing to say. The yelling lesson he got from her after that had reminded him of something he'd forgotten. Keeping things hidden is never a good solution.

In the end, he'd explained almost all of it, keeping only certain parts, such as Asuna's involvement, out of it. That wasn't a subject he wanted to breach until he could, with certainty promise that he'd protect her. It turned out to have been another mistake, only this time, Suguha didn't give him a long, loud lesson. What she'd done was even worse.

She'd started crying.

Kirito could understand, partially, why she'd be upset, but it wasn't until she'd started saying things such as 'I knew it, I knew it' that he realized she'd known a bit more than he'd thought. So when she'd tearfully told him about her ALO identity as a Sylph warrior, Leafa, Kirito didn't have a single clue how he should react.

She'd been there. She'd seen it all. So what could he even say?

Nothing, as it turned out, because Suguha herself filled in most of the blanks. She'd pieced most of it together and the only thing she didn't analyze in-depth was the truth behind his attack on the World Tree. With the information she'd been given, she'd pieced together a story that would have been true if Ame hadn't changed the circumstances a bit. As it was, Suguha still thought he was trying to win the game because it was supposed to be his way out. Kirito had tried to correct her only once, but she'd interrupted him at that moment, thinking he'd wanted to say something entirely different.

It was a harsh reminder that he should never really just assume things, but Kirito wasn't sure how he felt about it. Now he felt even worse for letting her, as Leafa, to join the raid. He'd agreed because she'd said she was a friend of Asuna's and that was really all there was to it, but now he understood that he shouldn't have done it, not without telling her the truth first.

He didn't know where he was standing with her, though. Should he tell her all? Should he not? She'd earned the trust, yes, but did he have the strength to act the way he should? He'd long since resolved that if he ever got out of SAO alive, he would do his best to fix the relations between them. Letting her cry on his shoulder while she promised to help him get Asuna out had seemed like a good idea at the time, but he still wasn't certain whether he wanted her involved in this at all. Did he even have the right to ask of her to back down? The reason she'd joined at the first place had been because she wanted to find _him_.

But she'd really driven the point of his powerlessness home when she'd reminded him that no matter what, right now he wouldn't be able to log in. She'd promised to help him as soon as he got a chance to go, but also reminded him that her mom would never want to see him using the NerveGear again.

Kirito had forced himself to stop thinking about it during his walking practice to strengthen his muscles. He had to, because attempting to walk even three days after waking up required a lot of strength and effort and focus while most of the time he'd spent confined to the wheelchair. It was frustrating, but that was what he got for not being physically adept before logging into SAO. He would have almost been classified as couch potato if he'd eaten more and hadn't occasionally went out to ride his mountain bike, according to his nurse.

Right now, the aforementioned nurse, Aki Natsuki-san, followed him into his hospital room as he maneuvered his wheelchair in there.

"Good news, Kirigaya-kun," she said with a grin, "They're releasing you tomorrow."

"…Can I hope that I'll be able to leave without these?" he asked with a gesture towards his wheelchair.

"Not until the end of the week, no," she replied teasingly. "Anyway, it looks like you have a visitor. He wasn't on the list so I have to ask you before letting him in. Do you know this person named Tsuboi Ryoutarou?"

Kirito pondered on the name for a short time before shrugging. The name didn't ring any bells, so it could be that it was somebody from the National Security coming to talk to him. They'd called Midori the previous day and told her they should drop by within next few days. Still, he got this strange feeling that he should know who it was.

"Let him in," he decided while he tried to remember where exactly he'd heard it before.

Aki agreed and left the room, returning a few moments later.

But before the person accompanying her could have walked in, Kirito realized exactly why he felt he should know the person.

A moment later, he wasn't disappointed.

The person standing at the door was nobody other than Klein. He had to get by on the crutches and for some reason looked like he hadn't slept for days, but it was him.

Kirito's eyes were wide, as Klein really had been the last person he'd been expecting to show up.

"Klein…"

"Should I kick him out?"

Nurse Aki looked at Klein in amusement, but Kirito merely shook his head.

"Then I'll leave you two alone. Call me if you need anything," she said before leaving, though Kirito paid little attention.

"What… are you doing here?" he asked.

"We thought you were dead," Klein said, voice hoarse.

Kirito could do nothing but nod.

"I thought so, too."

"I'm sorry. If… If I'd been any stronger… If I'd been faster—"

"Klein—"

"No, listen! As much as you think it's your fault, and I know you, you do think that way—it's mine, too! I should have watched your back when I said I'd do it. And—and I won't make that mistake again."

"Klein, you're not making any—"

But Kirito was forced to shut up as Klein threw something in his direction. He barely caught it a moment before it hit him in the forehead, his body responding far too slowly to something his brain had noticed right away. That, too, was one of the drawbacks of the real world.

Regardless, Kirito looked down at the object he now had in his hands and all his muscles tensed.

There, before him, was the only thing he'd been missing in order to once again reach out to Asuna. The game itself.

"It's not over yet," Klein said. "We can still get to her."

Kirito's facial muscles were the ones tensed the most and he could feel the itch that came moments before he was about to cry. He rejected that, though, he refused to let the tears come. On the day he woke up, he'd cried more than he'd cried in his whole life. Now wasn't the time for that.

He choked out, "I… I probably won't be allowed to do it right away… but I'll leave Sugu, my, uh, sister, to explain it to my mom… You should know her, too. Suguha, I mean."

"Eh?"

"She plays ALO as Leafa," Kirito added quietly, feeling a tiny bit amused when Klein's jaw slackened.

"W-wha-_what?_"

Kirito was almost certain he attempted to say something more, but the words coming out were gibberish more than anything else.

"Calm down," he said awkwardly. "It's a bit unexpected, yeah, but…"

"Unexpected?" Klein chocked out. "B-but—"

"Relax. You didn't do anything weird…" Kirito said, but then a strange thought occurred to him and hesitantly, he added, "Did you?"

"Eh? Well, no! Nothing! I had other things on my mind, just so you know," Klein replied in a rush, giving Kirito a strange impression that they weren't exactly talking about the same thing. Still, going anywhere further with this didn't leave Kirito feeling relaxed at all.

"Anyway, uh, I'll log in as soon as I get the chance. Mom took the NerveGear home so I'll probably have to wait for tomorrow… There have been no sings of Asuna, right?"

Klein shook his head with a long exhale, almost exactly the same way Kirito had been expecting. "No, nothing. Look, I just came here for short, okay? I had to talk to you face-to-face, but I have to go now. Michelle—err, Amber, she's been logged out a lot more than logged in the last few days. She showed up today, but she hinted on leaving entirely. I think this hit her whole lot more than she's showing."

"You're going to talk to her?" Kirito asked, to which Klein shrugged.

"Hardly. I've no clue where she lives. I know it's somewhere close to Agil's café, but no idea where. I actually wanted to log in while she's still there. Oh, before I forget, this Ichigo girl told me to tell you hi in her stead."

Kirito nodded. He wanted to ask about her job and how she was handling it, but he figured Klein didn't know much about that. Besides, he could just ask her himself once he logged in.

"Thanks," he said. "I'd have invited you to sit down, but I don't really have much to offer. I mostly have to eat the healthy food now and drinks are limited to the healthy ones, too."

Klein grimaced in sympathy. "Don't remind me. I still have to follow the hospital menu they gave me. Ugh. More fat, more fat, more fat… what if I want to keep my weight the way it is? I always thought I had a kilo or two extra."

"You're starting to sound like a girl," Kirito warned him jokingly, to which Klein snorted before giving him a grin.

"Anyway, do your best to get back on your feet quickly, okay? Asuna's still waiting."

"I know. And by the way, thank you."

"Eh? What for?"

Kirito lifted the game in the air.

Klein scratched the back of his head once he saw it. "Don't mention it, man. It's the least I could do after being such a failure. Rest assured, though. You're not alone in this. Agil said he'd be joining in as well this time around. He was pretty hyped up when he heard we could still abuse our old stats."

Kirito shook his head with a slight smirk. "Same old Agil…"

"Definitely. Watch out for his wife, though. Now that's a scary woman if I've ever seen one."

Kirito raised an eyebrow, but Klein didn't elaborate. Instead he waved.

"See you in there," he said.

Kirito nodded as he watched him leave. Once the door shut, he looked down at the game in his hands. Everything he needed was there. Now, all he needed to do was to go home and use it. Hopefully, another day won't be too late.

* * *

Finally.

After many long and tedious hours of arguing, here she was at last. It was a good way to show that all the time she'd spent arguing with her family hadn't gone to waste. They had been incredibly unsupportive when it came to this particular issue and the only way she ever got them to comply was by guilt tripping them into respecting her choices. Right now, the real world wasn't where she belonged.

They'd put up a good argument, saying that if that was so, then why should the virtual world be, but there was a simple answer to that. In the virtual world, one had the power to do things they couldn't do in the real world. In there they could fight and give it their all, then watch with their own eyes as their goals came to fruition. In the real world, that was hardly the case. It all required certain procedures, calling appropriate people and waiting, when in the end nothing would come out of it. In the virtual world, it wasn't over that easily.

Besides, how could it be over when the two people responsible for ending it were precisely the ones who had yet to awaken?

To tell the truth, she wasn't positive about that. At first she'd been upset only because neither of the two of them had tried to contact her. Her family could attest to that. She'd been really upset, to the point of being nearly depressed, until she started wondering about what had happened up during the seventy-fifth-floor-boss fight. After she failed to contact many people she knew, she instead turned to the best source of information one could turn to – the internet itself.

What she found there was about as depressing as her own thoughts had been, if not even worse. People freely discussed how three hundred players from Sword Art Online never woke up, placed theories about them being stuck inside another VR game, the causes of it ranging from a simple bug to a nation-wide conspiracy in order to bring down the chief of the Yakuza.

Yeah. Helpful, indeed.

However, there was one thing everyone on the forums agreed and that was that the SAO players were stuck inside ALfheim Online and both the game producer and the authorities were trying to keep it hidden. Apparently, the forum she'd been checking out had gotten multiple warnings to get them to stop spreading the information. When she tried to open it the next time, it was as if it was completely wiped out of existence. That, more than anything, had confirmed it for her.

The only way to find the answers was to log inside that game itself, no matter the risks.

It was hard, getting her family to understand that. They didn't understand that the time spent in Sword Art Online weren't the two years she'd lost, rather the time when she got to experience something she normally never would have. They couldn't understand that SAO would forever be a part of her and that would never change. It had helped shape her up into what she was now. Trying to ignore it or treat it as if it never happened was as if they were denying that part of her.

That was exactly as she'd explained it to them, yet it still hadn't been enough. More tears had to be spilled and more word-games and guilt tripping had to come in play before they finally let her have her NerveGear back. They'd insisted on getting her the AmuSphere instead, but she was adamant. NerveGear would have to do. In fact, she'd rather use that device than something else entirely unfamiliar, plus there were various complaints online how AmuSpheres had so many safety measures installed that they were ruining its performance and she knew that for this, she'd need the best visuals that she could get.

After all, what she was trying to do was find two players among thousands. She'd need good eyes for that.

As it was, though, finding them might be impossible, so she accepted that she would even settle for a verbal confirmation from a third party, so long as she got to know what she needed. Until then, though, she would search day and night if she had to. It was the least she could do.

With that determination, she scanned all the faces around her in search for something that would particularly stand out. She'd chosen the Leprechaun race because of their fortitude when it came to blacksmithing—it was something familiar in this vastly new world—but that almost certainly meant that neither of the people she was looking for would be there, in that town.

_Well, that's okay. It'd be silly if I spent all my time in one place, after all._

Lizbeth looked ahead towards the giant shape in the distance and nodded firmly to herself. Knowing them, that would be the best place to start to start looking. The World Tree.

_Such an original name_, she thought in annoyance. At least, SAO had interesting names for the cities and places in general. This sounded like a bad Norse Mythology rip-off.

_This is going to be a long journey_. That much she was certain of.


	18. Chapter XVIII

_I'm feeling invincible tonight  
I'm alive  
Take a look into my eyes  
This time I'ma take you for a ride  
I'm invincible tonight_

_**—Adelita's Way - Invincible**_

**Link to Reality**

Chapter XVIII

_November 20__th_

Reaction speed of the scientists was above average.

It must have taken Asuna scarcely a few seconds to equip her rapier and draw it from the moment she first realized she had company. During that time, the scientist who had been bringing her food had already succeeded in opening his status menu.

_I won't let you!_

Her attack was fast. She severed the man's wrist. With a sadistic feeling of momentary satisfaction, she watched it disperse into shiny pieces of data. The look on his face couldn't have been more thunderstruck if she'd unequipped her clothes and started belly-dancing.

Asuna used the opportunity to jab at his chest several times in quick succession, feeling even more satisfied when his HP dropped into the red zone. She finished it with a thrust directly in the throat.

For two brief seconds, the man sounded as if he was choking. Then his avatar dispersed.

Asuna made an observation that stuck out. Unlike what happened when the player's avatar got destroyed, this one didn't get swallowed up in flames and leave behind a Remain Light. Instead, what happened was exactly the same thing that she'd seen happen in SAO. The body shattered into thousands of gleaming polygons which disappeared after a few moments.

Asuna couldn't help but wonder how their accounts could possibly be any different from the others. A part of it had to do with the fact that they didn't participate in the game itself, rather were just a part of the same server. Or at least she thought that way. Her knowledge on servers ended with 'all companies have servers' and 'every MMO has a server'. She didn't dwell on it long.

She turned to the second scientist standing in her way and held out her weapon.

"Stop!"

Almost unwillingly he complied, body tense.

He was younger than the man who had spent his time by bringing food to Asuna. In fact, he had to be somewhere in his mid-twenties, probably not much older than her brother. His hair was pulled back in a low and short ponytail and he had a pair of spectacles which frames matched up to the color of his lab coat. Body half pulled back indicated that he was getting ready to run, but the translucent menu drifting before him suggested that he may or may have not already activated an alarm or something. Asuna couldn't let him get away.

"Who are you working for?" she demanded in the voice that she used to use on some of her slacking-off subordinates back when she had been the sub-leader of Knights of the Blood guild. It was a voice that would get even them to straighten up immediately. People had told her she was scary when using that voice and in this case, it worked as well.

The man's posture corrected instantly and he seemed like he was going to answer, but only for a moment. His shoulders then dropped again and he raised an eyebrow.

"Seriously? You're trying to scare me?"

"I wasn't. But I could still do the same thing I did to that friend of yours."

He frowned distastefully.

"What's the point? It's not like you can kill me for real. Looks like you SAO players are a bit loony after all."

His voice sounded mostly relaxed, but there was a trace of nervousness. The way his eyes didn't leave Asuna's rapier could attest to that, too. So maybe he didn't have a reason to be afraid of death, but he would have to be incredibly courageous to ignore a weapon pointed at his chest, death game or no. Or incredibly stupid.

At this point, Asuna was well beyond caring.

Trapping her here, calling her and all the other players loony? Was that what she was going to get?

Something must have changed on her face, however, as the scientist made a step back.

"I've already activated the security code," he said, voice cracking a bit at the end.

"So what?"

"You can't get away. The knights are unbeatable. Plus you can't log out. It's just a matter of time before you're caught."

"Do I look like I care?"

That had, all in all, been a poor bluff. One of the things Asuna cared about the most right now was not to be forced back into that cage. This was not just about her anymore. If those pillars down there were really SAO players, and she had a sinking feeling they were, then she couldn't just let herself be caught again, without telling somebody else about it first. Even more, there was no trace of Kirito. More than anything, she needed to make sure he was alive. Letting these people catch her would be the worst possible thing that could happen.

However, for somebody who thought they had the situation under control, the scientist looked rather discouraged.

That changed when the empty corridor got filled with sound of swishing wings.

Asuna took notice of the trouble coming her way just in time to duck as a longsword went flying exactly where her chest had been a moment ago.

"Sucker!"

With her peripheral vision, she saw the scientist enter the elevator and choose the bottom-most button with a triumphant grin as the door shut, separating him from the location of the upcoming scavenge.

_What is this supposed to do? Delay me until he gets to the—_

Asuna's thoughts abruptly cut off as she was forced to fight away the attack coming after her head. The attack itself was weaker than she'd been expecting it to be, allowing her to brush it off without much trouble before she started her own counter-attack.

That was when the trouble started.

There was just too many of them. Asuna had no doubt they possessed ordinary strength at best, but the sheer number made up for it. There had to be four dozens of them in the hall, blocking off the only exit she knew—the tree branches. She either had to fight through them all or find another way out. The former in this case seemed more plausible.

The speed of Asuna's jabs, thrusts and swings was enough to keep the knights away, but at this rate, unless if she went into the battle directly and fought through them despite the risk to her HP, there was no chance she would be able to win.

_Let's just pray it was that guy's card I took…_

Taking a deep breath, she lunged at them.

Her body fell into the motions of SAO Sword Skill «Linear», embedding deeply into the body of the knight standing in her way. It exploded in purple smoke, allowing her to continue moving forward.

Using the next knight as a springing board, roughly a moment before it would explode, she propelled herself in the air. It helped her move further than all the previous fighting had. As she landed in the crouching position, yet another knight right behind her disintegrated and her rapier gleamed dangerously.

But as she tried to make an estimation of how many more there were remaining, Asuna realized that her first guess couldn't have been further from correct. There had to be hundreds.

_So many just for me?_

Well, it would be embarrassing if she failed to answer the challenge now.

Doing the only thing she could, she fought.

Asuna wasn't sure how long it had taken her to finally reach the branches of the World Tree, but at that point, her HP had been halved, merely points away from entering the yellow zone. The number of the Knights had also been halved and Asuna was proud of that achievement, but now that she was free, her battle was over.

She used the chance she got to run all the way to the cage and only once she was there did she dare jump. This way, at least, she would have some sort of an idea as to where she was going to land.

As she fell, the wind roared in her ears and blew her hair everywhere. As she was going down head-first, she saw the knights gathering up at the branch, but they didn't follow. Perhaps they couldn't leave the World Tree. Perhaps they thought she was falling to her death.

That was fine, Asuna decided as she twisted so she would be able to look down as she plunged through the skies. They could think whatever they liked, but she had done something similar to this once before. She just needed to activate her wings in time, so she wouldn't end up colliding with the ground at uncontrollable speed.

However, keeping her eyes open at the wind blowing in her face was difficult. More then once, she'd close them entirely and only open them once again when she remembered she needed to see the first traces of—_there!_

The city of Arun was down below her. Asuna spread her wings and tried to slow down her fall as much as possible. The ground was rapidly approaching. She singled out a perfect spot for landing, the very same one they'd chosen as the place to take off during the raid on the World Tree from the outer side. There were players there, of sorts, but Asuna didn't have any way of warning them to get away.

Focusing on her wings the most she could, Asuna felt her fall slowing down. Finally, several moments before she was going to crash, she managed to twist herself so that she could land feet-first.

When her feet collided with the ground, Asuna couldn't quite keep her balance. One of her knees touched the ground as well.

Breathing hard, she lifted her head, but from the dust surrounding her, she could hardly see anything.

_The outsiders must be thinking that they just saw a comet fall down_, she thought in amusement. She wondered if she'd maybe left a crater. It shouldn't be possible, as this was a Virtual Reality and she'd never seen things like concrete or wall getting destroyed, but who knew? The things she'd seen lately had breached many laws of virtual world, at least the laws she had been aware of.

She straightened up as the dust finally started settling down, straightening her Undine clothes a bit and sheathing her rapier, thankful that she hadn't lost it during the fall.

What greeted her was an applause. It started with one person only, but moments later, everyone who had gotten a chance to see the little bit of her reckless feat started clapping as well. Voices were beginning to spread around, asking if perhaps she is an Alf, but the others pointed out her clothes were obviously Undine. The arguments and counter-opinions were beginning to break out and Asuna found herself looking around in a rush, desperately searching for a best escape route. The number of players had to be below a dozen, but one side was limited due to the World Tree itself.

"A-Asuna?!"

The crowds silenced at the sudden yell. Instead of looking for a way out, Asuna started searching for the person who'd called out her name with such a surprise.

Breaking through the three people standing huddled together was Tramp. His eyebrows were lifted in a high arc and he was opening and closing his mouth like a fish, but no words were coming out.

There was absolutely nothing but a strange sense of relief to see a familiar face among the strangers, but his behavior was downright alarming. Asuna looked at him warily, then in a hesitant voice called his name.

"Tramp…?"

"Wow, so it's really you?!" he exclaimed suddenly, then bounced in an attempt to give her a hug.

Inwardly panicking, Asuna moved out of the way.

"Eh, sorry, sorry," he apologized hastily. She didn't doubt for a moment that his words were just for show. The sheepish grin on his face was a well-familiar one, which despite his words, was completely unapologetic.

He scratched the back of his head, but soon the grin was wiped of his face, replaced with a strangely somber expression. "You got out on your own? What happened?"

Asuna merely shook her head to indicate she didn't want to talk about it right now.

He nodded, then gave her a small smile. "It's good to see you back."

"It's good to be back."

The small crowd around them was slowly starting to go their own ways, but several nosy people remained, curios to hear the rest of the conversation.

"You okay?" Tramp asked, but even as he said that, he gave Asuna a strange look from head to toe, then tilted his head a bit. "You look different."

"I'm fine… Uh, about the way I look, that wasn't really my choice…"

He nodded. No questions; no teasing, nothing. Asuna briefly wondered what had changed from the last time she'd seen him. He had been more serious around her ever since she'd told him about SAO, but this appeared to be a bit much, even for him.

"Is something the matter?" she asked.

"Eh? What? No!" Then he looked at the people around them, before reaching out and grabbing her hand. "Show's over, people! Get out of the way!"

"H-hey!" Asuna protested as he started dragging her through the crowds.

"Bear with it, please! We have to tell the others you're back!"

"Where are you taking me?"

"Don't worry! Remember that pub, the Silky Pearl? The Flaming Wolves now unofficially own it. The only people who get in there are either looking for a fight or a cheap place to stay and have no idea where they got in. And that's where we're going."

"I-is Kirito-kun there, too?"

Hearing that question, Tramp abruptly slowed down and turned to look at her. "Uh… well, um… nope. He's not there."

"Why…? Why not?" Asuna asked, several possible explanations immediately popping up in her mind, none of them good. "D-did something happen? I already tried contacting him, but it's like he's—"

"Like he's gone, right?" Tramp interjected and stopped walking entirely. "Like, not logged out but really, really gone?"

Asuna nodded uneasily.

"Well technically, he died."

Asuna's heart almost stopped. "He wha—?"

"Let me finish!" Tramp interrupted her again. "He died in-game, but he's fine. He woke up in the real world. We have no idea how, but it's important that he'll be fine, right?"

Asuna trembled in relief. "So he's fine? Thank goodness. I… I was so worried…"

"He's fine," Tramp confirmed with a confident smile and pat her shoulder.

Asuna didn't have the words to describe how much better that made her feel. She smiled at the boy she'd come to think of as her little brother and gave him a grateful nod, as she was unable to find any words to thank him. A simple 'thank you' wasn't really going to cover it.

"Come on," he said easily. "Last I heard, everyone was at the pub. True, I wasn't online much the past few days, but that's beside the point. We have to let them know you're fine."

Asuna nodded in agreement and let him drag her along once again, but her mind was still on Kirito. If nothing else, he was free now. Telling him what she knew now was going to be even more difficult, but that was fine. He was fine. He was free. That was all that mattered.

"Anyway, what happened to you? Is that how you really look outside the game or something?" Tramp wondered.

"Uh, yeah… Somebody tried really hard to replicate it."

Come to think of it, to do that, somebody needed to know how she looked like. It meant that whoever had done that to her, whoever had imprisoned her up there in that cage was either somebody she _knew_ or somebody who had access to some old pictures of her. Or even worse, her hospital room. Merely thinking about that made her shudder.

Tramp, however, didn't seem to have found something more meaningful to her statement.

He laughed, his face showing nothing but a good-natured grin.

"Aw man, now I envy that Kirito even more. You don't happen to have a really pretty friend to introduce me to, huh?"

"I'm not going to play the role of a matchmaker for you," Asuna informed him.

"You're such a meanie. And there I was, fretting something bad might've happened to you, yet you can't even do that much for me."

"You certainly don't look like you're fretting anymore," she pointed out.

Tramp shrugged. "What can I say? I can't stay down for too long. How did Ame call it? Oh right, I'm an incurable optimist. I don't think she's wrong, for once."

Asuna shook her head, but in truth, she was relieved. Ame had that point right about Tramp. If one person could stay constantly optimistic and upbeat, that was him. His serious moments aside, she'd never seen anyone change their mood from somber and serious to easy-going and teasing in less than two minutes.

Tramp opened the door of the pub for her, to which Asuna merely swatted his arm and pulled him by the ear inside. He tried to protest, but stopped in order to look around the pub and find the others. The pub was mostly devoid of customers and only several tables were busy. Asuna herself was looking, either for Amber's figure or Ichigo's strange hair color, or just about anyone she'd recognize, but Tramp was quicker in that regard.

"There."

He pointed towards one of the tables in the corner where two Undines were sitting.

It took a moment for Asuna to recognize Ame, but the second one, the one having their back turned to them was a complete stranger. As the two of them walked closer, they could clearly hear Ame's loud voice.

"—interesting?! You're calling it interesting? It's horrible! Just imagine it, you're free from one prison, just so you'd be pushed back into another! How can that be interesting?!"

"Uh—I mean your theory behind how…" the Undine tried to calm her down.

"Not interesting!" Ame slammed her hands down on the table. "It's downright—" but Asuna never learned what she'd been trying to say. Ame looked at the two people who'd stepped over by their table and blinked several times, whatever she'd been trying to say now completely forgotten.

"A-Asuna?" she gasped out.

Asuna lifted her hand in greeting.

That was the most she got to do. The next moment, Ame had her arms wrapped around her neck and Asuna wasn't sure if the girl was trying to hug her or choke her.

"You're back! Oh god, you're back!" Then she let her go and took a step away, taking a very good look at the girl standing before her. "What happened to you? You look—oh, never mind. Klein, I'm going to kill you! That guy logged in twenty minutes ago, but when it turned out Amber left earlier, he logged out right away. That idiot! How are we going to tell Kirito about this now?"

"Ca-calm down, Ame-chan," Asuna tried to say, but the girl was no longer listening.

Instead, she turned to Tramp.

"Just where did you find her?"

"Eh? She just landed outside…"

Ame turned back to Asuna and blinked in confusion. "You did? How? How did you get away?"

Asuna smiled awkwardly. "I… jumped."

Ame raised an eyebrow, her expression of clear incredulousness. "You jumped?"

Asuna nodded, a sheepish grin slowly beginning to appear on her face as she tried to reassure her friend with her hands, but it was hardly working.

"You _jumped?_"

"It's not that—"

Asuna's response got interrupted when the stranger cleared his throat, drawing Ame's attention away from her.

"Actually, I have already stayed longer than I should," he told her, bowing his head. "Thank you for keeping me company, Ame-san. Everything you've told me is going to be really helpful."

"Helpful with what?" Ame asked suspiciously.

"Well, spreading it around, naturally," he replied with a slight smile. "Isn't that what you wanted to do?"

Ame nodded, but the look in her eyes was still slightly suspicious. "Right, then. See you around, Chrysheight. Oh, and I have you in my friend list, right?"

"You should," he said with a shrug. Then he raised his hand in greeting before using his other hand to press the log out button. As his avatar disappeared, Asuna turned to Ame curiously.

"What was that about?"

The Undine girl shook her head as she scrolled through the long list of her friends, then nodded as she apparently found what she'd been looking for. "I'll tell you later. I've got a lot to tell you, anyway. But first of all, sit down. You have to tell us what happened. Seriously, you have no idea how worried we were. What happened to you?"

Ame sat down and moved to make space for Asuna to sit next to her. Asuna complied and Tramp sat right across them.

"Do you know where the others are?" Asuna asked. "It's… a bit of a complicated story and I don't know how many details I'll be able to remember if I wait for too long."

Ame put a finger to her chin thoughtfully. "Hmm… I know Amber and Klein have logged out. Ichigo and Gill went for some kind of a quest, I think. They mentioned something about going to fight, too, the brutes. Last I heard from Sang was that he somehow got involved with the Cait Siths and this Alicia person asked him for a favor, so that's why he didn't get to Arun as the rest of us after that epic fail of our raid. No clue about Todoh and Kirito is back in the real world, but according to Klein, he intended to log in tomorrow. That's about it, really. Do you want me to try and get in touch with any of them right now?"

"I'd like it if you could contact Klein or Kirito-kun, but I guess that won't work," Asuna murmured with a small frown.

"Hmm…" Ame looked thoughtful, then she opened her status window and a moment later, a virtual keyboard and the message window appeared before her. She started typing rapidly.

"What are you doing?" Tramp asked while trying to lean over to see something, but his general position and the privacy setting stopped him from reading anything she typed out. Even Asuna, sitting right beside her, couldn't make out more than a blur.

"Contacting that Ichigo girl. She's friends with Amber in real world, right? She can give her a call or something when she logs out. And Amber should know how to contact Klein. He can then contact Kirito and whoa la, problem solved."

"That's…" Tramp blinked several times, then quickly changed what he'd intended to say. "How do you remember all that stuff? I don't even remember the names of all the FW members, let alone details like that."

Ame winked. "Are you jealous?"

A small red tinge appeared on his cheeks. "Eh? Hell no!"

"You should be, as I'm pretty sure you don't remember even the names of your classmates," Ame said teasingly.

"No, I—wait, how do you even know that?!"

"So it's really true? I didn't believe when I first heard it, you remembered Leafa's name pretty easily, but this is interesting."

Tramp's eyes were wide when he heard that statement. He was looking at Ame blankly and the two Undine girls sitting across him had trouble keeping themselves from laughing out loud.

Finally he noticed that and he shook his head to clear it. A smirk appeared on his face when he said, "I guess it's easy for me to remember the names of pretty girls. No wonder it took me so long to remember yours."

Ame stopped typing, looking up at him in stunned fashion, her mouth hanging open as she seemed to be trying to find some words to throw back at him, but couldn't.

Asuna couldn't keep it in any longer, she burst into loud laughter. Seeing the two of them bickering like this brought some really good memories and the good thing was that both of them seemed to take it in stride most of the time. Her laughter was what brought Ame out of her stupor and the Undine girl blinked several times.

"Well played," she acknowledged in low, still slightly shocked voice. "I guess this makes the score ten to one. Who knows, we might even out by the end of the year."

"Oh, come on—"

But whatever Tramp was attempting to say went unnoticed when Ame chirped, "I got a response!"

She proceeded to open the message, but her face quickly changed into a slightly annoyed expression. Finally, she rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"Okay, fine. I get it that fighting is important. No really, I get it. That's the whole point they're here. But god damn it, a bit more responsibility on their part wouldn't hurt anyone! Argh! None of you happen to have Amber's e-mail?"

Asuna and Tramp shared a look, but they both shook their heads.

Ame groaned. "Fantastic. Would it be too much to hope that Leafa has somehow gotten Klein's? I got Recon's e-mail and I think he's got hers, he mentioned something about them going to the same school, but… yeah. Way too much to hope for that…"

"Eh? Leafa?" Asuna asked. "You mean—"

"Yeah, that Sylph girl. She actually helped us out when we tried to raid the World Tree from the inside to get you out, but I don't know where she is now."

"Raid the World Tree… from the inside?"

Ame groaned yet again. "Looks like somebody will have to start talking. Okay, I'll go first. Buckle up, girl, cause this is a story filled with awesomeness… and epic fails. Really. It gets downright embarrassing for the rest of us towards the end."

Asuna gave her a strange look, then glanced over in Tramp's direction, but he decidedly avoided to look at her. Curious about the story, she turned back to Ame and indicated she could begin.

* * *

"And that's the way it is," Michelle said, finally finishing the entire story of the things that had happened for the last few days. "I'm still waiting for Yuuki-san to give me some news, but I honestly don't think he'll do it. Heck, even his three-day deadline passed without him making any advances, as far as I know. Anyway, I guess the important thing is that Kirito's alive and all that."

The three of them, Michelle, her sister and Andrew, were sitting at one of the corner tables in Andrew's café. The plate filled with cookies, made by Kathy, rested before them, half eaten. Michelle had a drink positioned in front of her, a glass of oolong tea, while Kathy only had a glass of water. Andrew didn't drink anything.

For now the place was empty, but seeing as it was roughly around eight in the evening, the people should begin gathering up soon. They normally even gathered earlier, but as it was a Wednesday, it wasn't that surprising.

Andrew nodded to everything Michelle had told him, looking lost in thought for a few moments.

Michelle knew he was familiar with most of the story by now. Klein had told him about it almost immediately after learning that Kirito is alive and that was fine in her books, but she still wanted to recount the events from her point of view. She had no doubt—and it turned out she was right—that Klein had missed out on several details that perhaps weren't that important, but at least would make the story sound more sensible.

"The brother of that girl, did you say he called the authorities?" Kathy suddenly asked with a strange expression.

Michelle shrugged. "Probably. I don't know. I mean, he sent me the info I asked for not five minutes after I asked him so I can make a safe guess he asked somebody, but who? I've no idea."

She nodded somberly. "I really feel it for those players still trapped in that game. Is it really true it's three hundred of them?"

Andrew opened his mouth to answer, but Michelle was quicker.

"Honestly? I don't know. I only heard Kirito mention that and so far there hasn't been a hint of any other SAO player. But beginners don't stand out and not everyone is as good as Kirito and Asuna, right? I mean, they practically won SAO." Then her eyes narrowed and she looked straight at Andrew accusingly. "You know, you could've mentioned that part."

His eyebrow twitched even as he tried to give an apologetic grin. "Eh, sorry? I guess it just slipped of my mind."

"Yeah, right," Michelle snorted in her tea. Then her phone vibrated violently.

She reached for it, recognizing a short vibration as a text then sighed as she recognized the sender. Her face quickly changed from neutral to a smile and she rushed to respond.

As she did that, she said, "Good news. It looks like Asuna's back."

Andrew blinked. "Really?"

"Yeah. Haruka just told me that. Looks like she met up with Ame and Ame asked Haru to spread it around. Anyway, this is really good news." She looked up at Andrew as she finished typing the message and asked, "Can I trust you to tell Klein? Just remind him to tell Kirito, too, before he drives himself nuts thinking he's wasting time in the hospital."

"Yeah, sure," Andrew agreed. "But why don't you—?"

Michelle grimaced as she took the last sip of her tea. "I have to go. I'm trying out something new, you see. It looks like I can even earn money online instead of just wasting it. I need it, too, as it looks like the rent is going up again."

"Wouldn't finding a full-time job solve that problem?" Kathy asked dryly.

"And what? Rob me of my precious freedom? No way. Even half-time feels too long. Besides, I need the money. I really want to start that final year on the University. I might even get to be a programmer one day instead of a part time _accountant._"

"Well, you're on a pretty good way of becoming that right now," Andrew chuckled.

"Hardly. You think anyone will hire me without the degrees? No way," Michelle groaned. "Anyway, I'm going. I'll see if I can drop by before Sunday. Try not to have too much fun without me."

She gave them a quick wave before leaving the café, then proceeding towards her own apartment.

The place was small, a bathroom, kitchen and a small room, but that was pretty cheap, considering the general prices in the city, plus the location itself was a good one. The biggest thing she had to complain about was the traffic noise, but even that could be worked around.

Along the way, Michelle's phone started ringing. She raised an eyebrow at the unregistered number, but she picked up nonetheless.

"Yes?"

"Is that Densen Michelle-san?"

Michelle frowned. It wasn't a voice she recognized. "Yeah. Who's that?"

"This is Kikuoka Seijirou of the SAO Victims Rescue Case Unit. I was wondering if you had some free time tomorrow, as I believe you could help me with something."

"Uh—yeah? Sure, I guess. When? I mean, I work in the morning, but I'm free the whole afternoon."

"Good. Then two o'clock should do?"

"Yeah, yeah… that's perfectly fine."

He then gave her a location that made her groan on the inside. Too tired to think about who she was speaking to, she said, "No, not there. I'm not entering that place ever again. So if you wanna talk to me, just come over to my apartment, all right? I'll give you the address."

"I—uh—I wasn't expecting that," Kikuoka admitted.

"Yeah, I'm not too big on social norms," Michelle said. "Anyway, is that all right with you or not?"

"Oh, it's fine, it's fine. Most of what I'm going to mention is unofficial, after all, so there should be no problem."

Michelle hummed an agreement before hanging up, but a moment later, a thought struck her. _Unofficial? What is that supposed to mean?_

* * *

_November 21__st_

Kirito didn't understand.

There were the strange things and then there were the really strange things.

Among the strange things he could number Suguha's sudden interest in MMOs, the way he ended up in ALO, most of the things that happened during his time there and the subsequent death that he thought was really going to kill him, yet didn't.

Among the really strange things, however, he could definitely count his current situation.

So technically, even if he'd died during the game, when he attempted to log in again, he didn't think the starter's window should appear. He'd expected he'd be transported back to the Spriggan hometown, but not this. Even typing in his name and choosing the same race didn't help, so when the «Welcome to ALfheim Online!» window appeared, Kirito was pretty sure that like it or not, he was going to have to start from the beginning with his stats as low as all the other beginners.

So when he decided to check it out, he was naturally surprised to see that wasn't the case. Quite…

During the ten days he'd spent in ALO, Kirito hadn't done much in terms of increasing his stats. The only particular one he'd been increasing was the HP and had succeeded in lifting it from starter's 400 to 480 or so in a very short time. He'd also mastered the Night Vision skill and Extended Weight Limit, both stats being very close to being mastered anyway.

But now that was gone.

His stats were just about the same as they had been during SAO, except for the HP and MP. In other words, the progress he'd made in SAO remained. The progress he'd made in ALO didn't. For what reason, the most he could come up with was that his NerveGear had somehow converted the data. Even the Items he'd discarded long ago were back and taking the precious space in his inventory.

The worst of all had to be that, instead of the Spriggan hometown where he should have logged in, he ended up in some sort of a vast forest. The little glimpse he got of the World Tree told him that it would take about two hours to reach the ring and two or a bit more to reach Arun itself, which was significantly closer than what would have been if he were in the town. That, at least, was a good thing.

But something then occurred to him and in a rush, he scrolled the menu until he found the Log Out button. The window appeared, asking him if he wanted to log out. Kirito was a moment away from pressing yes, until he remembered something.

Namely, he was out of the safe area. Logging out would mean that he'd given permission to just about anyone to attack him while he wasn't watching. The truth is, he didn't _see_ anyone anywhere around him, but if hanging out with Ichigo and the Flaming Wolves had taught him anything, it was that the battle was always where you least expect it.

For a moment, he thought he heard something. It couldn't have been more than the rustling leaves.

Kirito then looked back at his Items list and singled out one that was, unlike all the others, compatible with ALfheim's Items. MHCP001.

_Should I…?_

Finger lingering above the 'Use Item' option, Kirito bit his lip. Yui's Heart had been one thing that didn't get corrupted along with all the other Items and that gave him some weak sense of security, as that had been exactly the same case when he'd first ended up in ALO. It meant that chances of losing her again were minimal.

Before he could decide whether or not to touch the button, he heard something. Unlike the last time, it sounded like more like a clash of steel in the distance.

It was nighttime in Alfheim. Kirito's race predispositions and Night Vision skill allowed him to see far more than he normally would. Among the trees a bit further away he caught a quick glimpse of something green, then a moment later, red.

The clash of steel rang louder.

Kirito discarded the menu and activated his wings, then kicked off the ground.

It was good to know that even if his account was new, nothing stopped him from using Voluntary Flight so long as he knew how.

From high above, the treetops stopped him from getting a good look at the fight below, but from that alone he could conclude that all the fighters have lost their ability of flight. However, when he flew in the other direction, the tops opened up, revealing a group of four Salamanders and an Imp surrounding two Sylphs and one of them—Kirito's eyes widened in surprise.

_Leafa?_

What was Sugu doing here? Come to think of it, he hadn't seen her since he'd gotten home and that had been over two hours ago. She'd had a kendo practice, he'd picked up that much, but did that mean she'd already returned? He didn't remember hearing her come.

Not that it mattered, really.

He wasn't going to let these strangers do anything to her.

He landed close to the Salamander he'd singled out as the strongest, just out of reach of his weapon—a two-handed spear. Two of the Salamanders standing opposite of him were alarmed at his presence and that quickly got the attention of all the others, including the Sylphs.

Before any of them could have spoken, Kirito started.

"Five against two. That's a bit unfair."

"So what? You want to make it five against three?" the Salamander asked.

Kirito realized that when he'd singled out the strongest one of them, he'd singled out the very leader of that group. Looking at him now, though, he looked rather familiar.

"No, not really," Kirito waved off as he tried to piece together where he'd seen this player before. "But five against one might work."

The five of them weren't pleased. One of them growled while the leader couldn't seem to decide whether to laugh or take him seriously.

"What are you doing?!"

Kirito looked towards his sister in surprise, not expecting her out of everyone present to object.

"These guys are strong, get away from here!"

Again, Kirito was surprised. It was touching that she worried that much, but she'd been present during their fight inside the dome of the World Tree. There was no reason for her to—_oh. Right. Randomly generated appearance. _

He felt silly, realizing how long it had taken him to remember that. Actually, that might even be worrying. If she couldn't recognize him, then how exactly did his look change?

But more than that, Kirito wanted to slap himself when he remembered that it also meant all of his gear was actually starting gear. He hadn't even thought about it, but now that he did take a better look, it explained why his sword hanging not on his back, but rather on his waist. It had to be incredibly light if he hadn't even noticed until now and that was another minus.

"That's fine," he told her, rendering the girl silent. "It wouldn't be fun if they weren't."

"But—"

"You're a Spriggan, aren't you? What're you doing here?" the leader of the group interrupted her. His eyes narrowed at Kirito as he pointed his weapon at him.

Kirito's eyes were on the tip of the spear directed at his head. It only now occurred to him exactly who this person was and he wasn't sure whether he should relish the fact he got a chance for a rematch or complain because he was once again outnumbered.

"Isn't that my own business?" he asked.

"You've got guts, huh? You know, I met one Spriggan who really pissed me off. Ever since then I've taken to attacking just about every Spriggan I see." He smirked. "Think you can match me?"

Kirito glanced at the other four members of party. "That sounds personal. So, you want to make it a duel? If I win, your party leaves these woods. If you win, you get all the money I have and trust me, I have a lot."

Carter, the Salamander who had been just about the most difficult opponent to beat during his brief partying with Ichigo and Sang, raised an eyebrow. "How much exactly?

Kirito gave a noncommittal shrug, but he opened the trade window. The Salamander's eyes widened.

"Why are you still using starting gear with so much money?"

Kirito gave him a wry smirk.

"I wasn't counting on a conflict around here. Don't underestimate me because of that. I have no intention of losing."

"Fine, then. Let's make it a half-loss mode. I don't wanna risk losing ten percent of that sum when I kill you."

Kirito hummed his agreement as he sent the duel invitation. His eyes were on Carter's face, waiting for the Salamander to make the connection, but he didn't. With the speed that had taken him to accept the duel, it was a sure guess that he hadn't even read the name of the challenger.

That changed when he looked up at the one-minute countdown floating above them, displaying both their names. He looked at it, then at Kirito, then back up again. Finally, his face changed from neutral to rage.

"You son of a—! You tricked me! I've no idea how you've changed your appearance, you damn brat, but you'll pay for that!"

Kirito lifted his hands in defense.

"Hey, I didn't—"

"You'll pay for that!"

The countdown still had about thirty seconds to go, but the Salamander charged. The duel would end before it even started if his attack hit so when Carter brought his spear down, Kirito merely stepped aside. His chances against Carter with starting gear were good enough, so long as it was just Carter. Having seen how he fought before, Kirto had no doubt he could win this easily, so long as nobody else tried to interfere.

Carter swung his spear again. It missed, as Kirito used his wings to lift him in the air.

The Salamander followed with no regard to the countdown and Kirito evaded with the best of his skill. His flying ability having gotten much better since their last encounter, it wasn't even fun and Carter only seemed to be getting angrier after each of his attacks missed.

Comparing Kirito's starting gear and Carter's high-level spear, several clashes would be all that would take for Kirito's one-handed sword to break. Perhaps a bit more, depending on the exact spot where the spear hit.

_I have to finish this fast!_

Any stalling would mean a certain loss. And stalling was exactly what Carter excelled at.

_Three… two…_

After drawing his one-handed sword, Kirito used his superior speed to make distance between them just as the window signaled the time was up. Carter was coming at him again, but Kirito was ready.

Changing direction, he flew up at the wild Salamander. The weapons clashed in the air, producing an array of sparks.

Carter's spear was the first to give out. Its tip disintegrated on the way down, the rest of the weapon following a second later. Carter hovered in the air, looking at his empty hands in shock.

A moment later, he opened his menu and was about to equip another weapon, but Kirito was expecting that.

Before Carter got a chance to arm himself, Kirito slashed at the thin line at his waist, not protected by any armors or guards. The cut was deep, but Carter's HP stopped dropping several points from the fifty-percent limit.

Kirito had been expecting that, too. Or rather, he'd expected his attack would do much less damage than it actually did.

So by the time Carter's HP stopped dropping, Kirito's body was already in motion for the following attack. It was the move he'd seen Ichigo use on him during their last fight. Circumstances had been different back then, but in this case it was more than enough to ensure his victory.

His foot caught the Salamander at the base of the neck and flung him downwards.

They weren't high enough so that Carter could get a chance to change direction or properly land. His knees collided with the ground, lifting a cloud of dust. If this had been the real world, Carter's kneecaps would have gotten smashed to pieces by the impact.

But as it was the virtual world, all it did was decrease his Hit Points.

The window declaring Kirito the winner showed up.

The woods were silent, except for Carter's ragged breathing. The group that had come with him seemed to be stunned at how little time it took him to lose.

The dust subsided and Carter stood up straight, rubbing the place where Kirito had kicked him, now looking more annoyed than angry. Kirito didn't know where the change in mood came from, but it was pretty good in this particular case.

"God darn, just how do you do that thing?" he demanded. "I first thought fine, you got lucky, whatever. But now you've done that again. How do you break weapons in one hit? _Superior_ weapons?"

"It takes a lot of time and a lot of practice," Kirito told him honestly. "Even if I tell you, you wouldn't be able to do it."

"Are you trying to say I lack skill?" he growled.

"Give it a rest, Carter! Kid won fair and square! Even you won't tell others about your trump cards!" exclaimed the only Imp in their group.

"Well—"

"Besides, you had a deal, no? Next time you make a deal like that, I'll trounce you, but you lost, so now we go."

Carter rolled his eyes. "Ugh, fine." Then he glared at Kirito. "Next time I see you…"

He didn't finish that, turning around to rejoin his friends in the air.

Finally, Kirito turned to his sister and her friend.

Leafa was standing with her weapon still at the ready, although forgotten. She was looking at him strangely, as though too surprised to react. She blinked occasionally, but the look on her face didn't change. On the other hand, her Sylph friend was looking rather confused as well.

Kirito gave her a lopsided grin in an awkward attempt to get rid of the tense atmosphere. "Sorry about that. Perhaps I should've told you right away."

"Perhaps you should have," she agreed. Then she seemed to remember the weapon she was holding and she quickly returned it into its sheath. After a pause, "What are you doing here? You're not supposed to—you're not supposed to _log in_, let alone fight like _that_."

"H-hey, slow down, Sugu! I don't have the same restrictions here like in the real world, remember?"

"I _know!_ But you shouldn't—"

"It's fine," he told her reassuringly. "I can log out, I think."

"You think?!"

"You don't have to yell. Really, it'll be fine."

She seemed to relax for a bit as she closed her eyes and breathed in deeply. "Okay, fine. But that doesn't explain what you're doing here, in the Sylph territory."

"Sorry, I don't know that, either. I just logged in not five minutes ago."

"Could it be a bug of some kind?" Leafa asked worriedly.

"I don't know. Anyway, it doesn't matter even if it is. I… I wasn't planning on logging out till I get to Arun."

Leafa wanted to protest, but she seemed to think better of it. "Okay," she said. "But we have to hurry. Just about every Salamander out there is after either Sylphs or Cait Siths because… well, even I don't know why. It's got something to do with Sakuya being friends with Alicia Rue of the Cait Siths and the general in the Salamander army doesn't get along with her. And right now, we're somewhere in the middle of that conflict."

"Wait, you mean Eugene and Alicia are still at it?" Kirito asked in surprise.

Leafa blinked. "You know them?"

Kirito thought back to what happened when he'd seen them the last time and nodded. "Uh, yeah. But it's been a while, so I thought maybe they got along better now."

Leafa shook her head. "I don't know, really. I don't even know what started it. I just know the only thing keeping the Salamanders from announcing war on the Cait Siths is because the leader of the Salamanders, this Mortimer person, thinks the whole thing is stupid."

"And he's right, probably," Kirito agreed.

"Doesn't help us any," said the Sylph beside Leafa. "Sakuya-san got involved and that got all the Sylphs involved. Now just about any Salamander we get to see will go out of their way to attack."

"That's pretty—"

"It doesn't matter," Leafa interrupted. "You're going to Arun, right? We are, too. So I guess, if you want to party with us… I mean, Recon is a bit slow so you might want to go ahead, but…"

"Hey!" Recon protested.

"No, that's fine," Kirito smiled. "I'll go with you."

Leafa seemed to relax significantly as she heard him say that.

If it happened so that Asuna was still at the top of the World Tree instead of at Arun, he had no doubt he would have gone ahead on his own. In that case, anything that aimed to slow him down would be ignored and bypassed, perhaps even sliced through. But with things being the way they are, arriving an hour or so later would be acceptable… under one condition.

"Let's go then," Leafa said. "We shouldn't stay around here for too long. Those guys might come back."

"Just hold on for a moment," Kirito pleaded. He could tell she stopped, but he was not really paying attention. His eyes were on the message window in which he typed out a brief message, one that he had no doubt would make Asuna happy when she read it.

«Yui's Heart… use it.»

* * *

**Author's Note**: Sorry for a bit longer wait on this chapter. It's likely that waiting might get even longer in the future, but let's hope for the best?


	19. Chapter XIX

"_It might do me well to trip and fall,  
to stumble blindly and to crawl,  
for some reason…  
or none at all." _

― _**Shaun Hick**_

**Link to Reality**

Chapter XIX

_November 21__st_

Sugou stood leaned against the wall as he waited for the elevator to come along with about fifteen other employees, all engaged in some kind of a conversation with one another. All, that is, except for him.

The current floor displayed on the tiny screen was sixteenth, which was pretty distant from the ninth floor where they were. Typically, Sugou would have already gone and used the other elevator, only it was out of use at the moment and would be for several more hours until some kind of a problem was taken care of.

Sugou was becoming impatient. He could understand why it was taking so long, but if he'd known about it, he would have used the elevators in the other part of the building. Or he would have climbed the stairs. Whatever, so long as he didn't have to stand in the crowd.

Those kinds of things didn't usually bother him much, but there was something upsetting in the way none of them seemed to respect his personal space as they brushed through to get closer to the elevator. It was as if they were either ignorant of his status as the CEO of the research department or they simply didn't care about his higher authority. What he could do about it amounted to sucking it up or ordering them to get out of his way, only the latter would be very uncharacteristic of the modest but capable Sugou Nobuyuki if it somehow ended up reaching Yuuki Shouzou.

So Sugou swallowed his pride for now and let them behave the way they liked. If everything went according to his plan, soon they would be bowing their heads, begging him not to fire them. Thinking about it made the wait bearable.

Finally, the elevator reached their floor and the door opened. What happened then was yet another thing he could add up to the things that just about ruined his day.

The crowd that had been pushing _him_, the CEO of the RD, parted, leaving a considerably large space for Yuuki Kouichirou, merely the PR, to walk through without a pause. He was once again speaking to somebody on the phone, which amounted to the seventeenth time this day, as every time Sugou had seen him, that infuriating man had been talking on the phone. It probably had something to do with the new employees starting tomorrow.

As he passed by, one hand busy holding the phone, he used the other to give several high-fives to some of the younger employees and he even had the presence of mind to wink at some of the girls without faltering in his conversation. He didn't seem to register Sugou's presence at all. One of the assistant secretaries stopped him half-way through the hall and handed him some papers, which he looked over for a moment, only briefly pausing his conversation, then returned them to her with a shake of his head.

Just what was his job, anyway? He had a small unit of people working under him in Public Relations, but he was no Marketing director. That position belonged to that old woman, one of the few people still undecided about whether the SAO servers should be shut down or not. He'd also arranged most of the dealings as of late and the most outstanding achievement had been his idea on buying Argus after it fell apart. The idea of producing the AmuSphere had also been his, from a certain point of view, although the credits for the concept of AmuSphere and Alfheim Online rightfully belong to others.

The most he was doing as of late was dealing with the job candidates and marketing of Alfheim, but at times he appeared to be busier than the CEO himself. Sugou wondered how many of the calls came from his University buddies. His personal guess would be most.

Sugou barely made it to the elevator with how crowded it was. From his position, he couldn't even reach the buttons, all of which, except for the twelfth floor, were pressed. And floor twelve was exactly where he was supposed to be going.

Eventually, he managed to fight his way through and press the button. Sometime later, the door opened and he was the only person to walk to the floor that was basically owned by the research department.

The halls were empty, as most people on this floor were disciplined enough not to run from one place to another all the time. There were still exceptions, just as everywhere else, but Sugou was content with the people working under him, even those that he'd rather fire. At least they weren't like those working on the upper floors, insisting on New Years decorations despite the celebration being over a month from now.

Sugou glanced at the clock on his phone, the one that said 18:12. If this didn't take too long, he might even have time to get home and see Asuna before ten. That would certainly be a good thing after such a hazardous day. However, considering how many calls he'd gotten before he'd been able to make time and actually come, chances were that wasn't going to happen.

He walked into the large room that unofficially belonged to the team nicknamed 'SAO Retrieval Team'. _His_ team. There were roughly twenty members of the team, most of them underpaid neurologists and psychologists, perhaps with two or three people capable of actual programming.

Right now, there was about eight of them present in the room.

"How is everything going?" he asked to one of the few females that worked under him.

"Good, sir. Experiment number two is seventy eight percent complete and the prototype program is now at forty percent. It's slowing down according to the expectations, so the estimated date of completion is going to be somewhere in mid-January. No anomalies detected."

"That's good, better than the initial calculations," Sugou sighed. "Then why exactly have you been in a rush to get me here?"

"Sorry, sir. That is Takada-san's unit that seemed to have something to tell you. He's not there, though. He's got a day off."

Sugou nodded and walked deeper into the room, towards the sector secluded by a wall. There, four computers were in use, compared to the normal two and had many different data spread over it, not all of it clear to him.

"So what is going on?" he asked to the two people present.

The older one, roughly forty-year-old neurologist spun immediately. Sugou had never bothered to remember his name.

"Oh, you're here, sir. That's good. That's really good."

"I'm here, yes. So what is so important that I had to personally come?"

"Do you want the good news or the bad news first?" the younger man piped up. At twenty-six years of age, he was one of the few programmers, although his education had only been basic. His name Sugou should have remembered, but at the moment he recalled nothing other than it starting on letter D. "We have… two of the both? Something like that. Anyway, the good or the bad first?"

Sugou regarded them suspiciously. "Assuming that the good news are indeed good, let's go with the bad first."

The two of them shared a look. The younger one shrugged and the older one turned to Sugou.

"The girl escaped."

"What? How did she—"

"No clue," the younger one interrupting him. "We're still looking into it. The other bad news is that her system authority level is now two and that might be troublesome if she gets anywhere near another console, since she's got a level 3 card with her. _My _card. Oh, and the third is that the data transfer from her account to the specifically made account had somehow been stopped."

Sugou rubbed his temples with one hand while with the other he indicated them to stop. "How did she leave the cage?"

The two scientists shared a hesitant look.

"It's possible she might've been guessing the password until she got it right. Or had somehow seen you or Hashizaki entering it. It's impossible to just break out, after all."

Sugou took a deep breath, forcing himself to stay as collected as possible, rather than start screaming and make this failure known to everyone.

"How did the data transfer stop? I put it under specific password precisely so that nobody could interrupt it, even accidentally."

The two shared yet another look, before the younger one hesitantly said, "We don't know, sir. She either kept guessing and somehow got it right… or somebody leaked the password to her."

"In which case the former is impossible because typing it wrong the first time would make it impossible to try again and the latter is just as impossible because the only person who knows the password is standing right _here_," Sugou growled. "Well, you know what to do. Get her _back_. When did it happen? Today?"

"Yesterday, sir."

"Yesterday?! And you've been keeping me in dark about it since then?"

"Well, you did order us to keep from calling you unless it's really urgent. And we _did_ call. You said to leave it for tomorrow."

That… that was actually true. It didn't decrease Sugou's urge to scream his throat raw in the slightest.

"Anything useful?" he hissed, barely managing to hold the insults he had for these retards for later.

"We've been keeping an eye on her, but she hasn't left the safe zone."

"Of course she wouldn't. As if she would fall for the same trick twice… But you said there were some good news?"

"Um, yeah," the older scientist affirmed. "Actually, that concerns the first problem we had, how come we got three-oh-two players instead of three-oh-one. We finally confirmed whose fault it is."

"Well?"

The two replied in unison, "Takada's."

Sugou blinked. "And how did he—?"

"He miscalculated the data," the younger one groaned. "I've no idea _how_, since all he had to do was copy the numbers from the system, not calculate, but he somehow extended the free space for, what? It can't be more than a megabyte, but it was enough. So instead of ending it there, the system asked whether the account storage should be extended."

"Why didn't he take care of it, then?" Sugou growled. "He should be capable enough of that."

"Because he left Amayame Jun in charge," the older one sighed. "He just told her to make sure nothing got erased. So she ended up extending the storage."

"Amayame isn't supposed to enter this room _at all_," Sugou pointed out.

"Yeah, well, she'd been the only one beside Takada working that day who had any idea about programming. When I asked her about it, she said he'd asked her to keep an eye on it while he went for a coffee break. He got held up for some reason so she had to take care of it somehow. She figured we'd erase the extra if she saved more than she should have." The younger scientist spat, "But then that turned out to be impossible."

"Which is something she would have known, if somebody had bothered to tell her what we've been trying to intercept," Sugou finished. He shook his head. Perhaps he should have gotten her to join the team. That girl could be pretty capable when she wanted to be and perhaps he could have even twisted the truth of the experiment to get her to agree… but he hadn't. Solely because he didn't know how close she really was to Yuuki Koiuchirou.

"But yeah, the avatar you created wasn't made for two players and the transfer wasn't direct in the first place, so that disrupted the whole thing. The special account ended up being unused while the data transferred over to the two empty one-time accounts that we used for testing the game because the coding was almost the same," the younger worker finished with a sigh. "I have a computer tracking her so I'd be able to react quickly, but she's… she's pretty smart."

"Which one is it?" Sugou demanded.

They pointed towards the one in the corner and he immediately sat down. Granted, it didn't give him much. Nothing he could change with the access these computers had at the moment and only that she was located in Arun. Then he glanced at the side, where the list of restrictions placed should have been.

The other two noticed where he was looking and hurried to explain.

"Uh, she got the access to lift all the restrictions, sir."

"And what are you doing to fix it?"

"Uh—well, I tried. But… it's… uh, the Cardinal won't let us. I'm still trying to figure out why. It's as if somebody with higher authority is interfering. We can't do _anything_ until she's out of the Safe zone. It's questionable whether we'll be able to do anything then."

Sugou closed his eyes, feeling the budding headache threatening to start. _Why is she fighting so much?_ Or rather, how did she even know she could fight? Knowing that it was the Game Master that was purposely holding her there should have discouraged her, not _encouraged._

No, that was not good. If she was encouraged, then it had to mean there was somebody helping her and she knew it. The only person who might be able to do that without it being traced back to them would be her brother, naturally, but that meant that he'd bribed somebody in this team to help him. It also meant that Kouichirou knew at least a part of what was going on, although Sugou had already suspected that.

Then he remembered something.

"What about that other account? The extra."

The scientists exchanged a look.

"Erased," the younger one simply said. "The player died in-game a day after we got the girl. All the data related to it was automatically erased by the system. By the time I saw, it was too late to try and restore it."

"And what happened to the player?" Sugou asked with a growing feeling of terror. That wasn't supposed to happen! If that infuriating _hero_ somehow managed to warn the authorities—

"Dunno, sir. I don't think we tried to look into that…"

Sugou fought yet another urge to get into a screaming fit. Putting aside the tracking they were doing on Asuna, he quickly rushed to access everything they had on the SAO player identified as Kirito. It wasn't much.

All he got was the name, aged sixteen and the name and the phone number of hospital where he was supposed to be staying.

"Ask somebody to call this number. Tell them to ask about the condition of Kirigaya Kazuto."

"Right, sir."

Sugou rubbed his temples as he waited for answers. What he learned now greatly complicated his plans. He'd made sure the day before, when he'd went for his short visit, that there was absolutely no way for Asuna to get out of the game no matter what. However, he'd entirely forgotten about the hero who had beaten the death game. He'd wanted to observe his actions before doing anything, but the obligations got far ahead of him.

"Dismissed from the hospital this morning, sir!"

Now that seemed to be coming right back to bite him on the ass.

It would have been a relief if he'd died, certainly, but the chances of him knowing anything vital were minimal. So even when interrogated, the most he would be able to say would be the name of the game that had imprisoned him for a short while.

That was bad enough. If he'd spoken, that would explain the internal control that had announced it would be showing up sometime during the week, too, two weeks earlier than it should. That was fine. Even if they'd notified him an hour before it started, he'd still be able to cover it up without a hitch.

But if the kid did know something vital… and he somehow got it to Kouichirou, who had somehow managed to get into the system and interfere with his plans… Now that was really bad. On a whim, he accessed the company server and read the last three computer IDs that opened the file they had on Kirigaya Kazuto. Right after the ID of the very computer he was using was the ID that undoubtedly belonged to Amayame Jun's computer. She had opened the file on November seventeenth.

Sugou took in several deep breaths to calm down.

_What would you do in this situation, Kayaba? What would you have done if somebody had disrupted your plans without even trying?_

Just what was he asking? That bastard Kayaba wouldn't get into a situation like this. He'd effectively kidnapped ten thousand people and got away with it. He had to have had a back-up plan or ten. Not one of Sugou's back-up plans accounted for a situation like this. For somebody to screw up so badly… no wonder Kayaba always worked alone.

That only made him loathe the man even more.

He'd done everything right. He had not made a mistake. So why was his plan still falling apart? If it continued in this direction, he would be forced to choose between Asuna and his research and he refused to even think it. Nothing would take Asuna away! Never! And he was not going to quit with the research, either! Those two things were connected so deeply that losing one automatically meant he was going to lose the other. Sugou refused to accept it!

If the worst came to worst… well… there was still something that could be done if it came down to it. And that something would not be pleasant.

But first, he had to confirm exactly how much Kouichirou knew without making a mistake.

"I'll take care of Asuna's situation later, so leave it," he told his workers.

He then abruptly stood up and marched out of the room.

* * *

"Are you all right, Mama?"

Asuna looked away from the plaza to look at Yui, settled on the handlebar of the railing that separated them from a large fountain. The small girl, formerly a mental health counseling program in Sword Art Online, was now registered as a navigation pixie and was just tall and light enough so that she could sit on Asuna's shoulder without the Undine even noticing it.

When Kirito first sent her the message to revive Yui after what had happened during SAO, Asuna had been reluctant to try. Thinking of everything that had happened lately, she wasn't willing to take the risk, but also the thought of seeing Yui again filled her with warmth. In the end, reasoning that Kirito wouldn't have told her to do it if it wasn't safe, she had ground her teeth and done it. It had been a good choice. For the first five minutes after seeing Yui again, she had done nothing but cried.

No wonder she might be worried even though Asuna barely spaced out for a minute.

"I'm fine," she said with a smile. "Just waiting for somebody to come. Anybody. Kirito-kun will take about two more hours, but it would be nice if somebody else logged in."

"Mmm. There's a player coming from behind, could it be one of the friends?"

Asuna turned to look and smiled when she recognized the long purple hair. However, the girl wasn't looking their way. Asuna raised her hand and shouted.

"Ichigo-san! Over here!"

The Imp girl finally noticed them. It took her seconds to get closer.

"Hey, sorry I didn't show up yesterday. I was intending to come, see how you were doing, but I got a bit distracted…"

"That's okay." Asuna leaned back on the railing and looked towards the water "There's nothing to do here and Kirito-kun is still pretty far. I'm bored~"

"We could look for a quest? That might be interesting."

"I don't want to leave the safe zone. I don't want to do anything that might get me back up there and I'm pretty sure leaving would do exactly that."

"… Good point. And the pixie?"

Asuna looked towards Yui, who was looking up at Ichigo with a curious expression. "Oh, this is Yui-chan."

Ichogo cocked her head and placed her hands on her hips. "A navigation pixie?"

"Something like that."

"It's the first time I've seen one. Huh. I thought they helped out only in the early stages."

Asuna didn't quite know what to say. She hadn't seen any other pixie during her time in Alfheim so there wasn't anything she could say.

"It's nice to meet you." Yui smiled.

"You too, Yui," Ichigo grinned. But then her grin waned and she looked up at Asuna. "Actually, I wanted to apologize. If I'd known what was going on from the start, I… well, I probably wouldn't have reacted well at first, but I really want to help out. So if there's anything I can do, just tell me."

"It's fine," Asuna reassured her. "Everyone who should know already knows. There's really nothing we can do but wait."

"You didn't try to log out? I mean, I thought, since you heard how it worked out for Kirito, you'd at least try it. After all, there's no risk if you die in game."

Asuna grimaced. "Oh, I tried."

"Huh?"

"It blew up in my face," the Undine girl groaned. "Thinking back, I'm not sure I could have changed it. I got some system access that helped me get away and I saw… well, my current status is that of an Immortal Object. My HP can't get under fifty percent no matter what, so Tramp got pretty upset when it turned out he couldn't win even when I wasn't trying to fight back."

For a moment she looked serious, but then Ichigo laughed. "Way to stimulate somebody's self-confidence, really."

"I know, right? Anyway, enough about me. How are you? I heard about your job. Are you looking for a new one or something?"

Ichigo shook her head. "I'm looking, yeah, but it's not going that well. The worst part is that I'm not even sorry. I was angry at first, but now I just feel like it was all karma. Anyway, there's something I wanted to ask you…"

"Yeah?"

"Does this name sound familiar?"

Asuna wanted to ask what name, but a window then popped up before her, showing her a message from Ichigo. She opened it, then blinked.

"Who is that?"

"…my brother. He… uh, he… died… in SAO. I guess… I guess I was just wondering if you knew him."

Asuna frowned thoughtfully, then turned off the privacy setting.

"Yui-chan, does it sound familiar?"

Ichigo raised an eyebrow at that, but Yui approached, then shook her head. "Sorry, Mama. I don't really know the names of all the players in Sword Art Online."

"I think I heard of it before, somewhere," Asuna mused. "It certainly sounds familiar, but I can't place it. Sorry, Ichigo-san."

"Thanks, anyway," Ichigo sighed. "I've asked a few more people who I knew were in the game, but nobody seemed to know. I mean, it's not that surprising, seeing how many players there was in the game, but I guess I was just hoping…" She shook her head. "Is it true about the monument they've mentioned? The one that displayed the names of dead players and all that?"

Asuna nodded, warily observing the Imp girl, but her face was a perfect poker face. It shouldn't be possible to keep it so straight in a game that projected your feelings better than you could, but somehow, it seemed to be working out for her.

"Well, thanks," Ichigo said with a slight grin that didn't quite fit at the moment. Then, before Asuna could ask about it, she changed the subject. "I was going to ask you for a duel to pass some time, but I guess the immortal status kinda makes it unfair. I'm still interested if you are, though."

Asuna observed her for a few moments, trying to understand the sudden change in the mood, but the only reason she came up with didn't leave her feeling accepting.

"Why do you want a duel?" she asked in the end. "It won't be fair if I just agree to something like this. You already know my HP won't go below fifty—"

"First strike mode might work. Besides, do you have something better to do?"

"Well, no…"

"Then come on. Yui can even be the judge if she wants." Ichigo winked. Yui looked puzzled for a moment and Asuna chuckled.

"Well, if Yui-chan doesn't mind that I'll have to leave her alone for a short time, I guess a duel is okay. Is that okay with you, Yui-chan?"

"I'll be cheering for Mama!"

"Then it's good," Ichigo grinned, this time much more naturally. She equipped a rather large weapon on her back before sending a duel invitation to Asuna.

She blinked. "Here?"

"You mind?"

"Not in particular, I suppose, but I've had enough of people pointing fingers."

Ichigo waved her hand with a laugh. "Relax."

"Do your best, Mama!" Yui cheered as the countdown window displaying their names appeared above their heads.

Asuna smiled, her heart melting at the support she had even though she still wasn't comfortable about the way her opponent was behaving. She decided to put it aside for now. She drew her silver rapier from its sheath.

"That's… a strange weapon," Asuna commented on the sword Ichigo drew less than a moment later.

"Yeah. I had a fair share of people calling me a butcher because of it. I still think it's awesome. Plus I upgraded it a few days back. But getting it, that had been _hard_."

"I'd like to hear that story one day."

"Yeah, right. _Everyone _would. It's actually embarrassing so there's no way I'm telling you."

"That's too bad. Can I convince you to tell me when I win?"

Ichigo laughed. "Not a chance, kiddo."

"That you'll tell me or that I'll win?" Asuna asked with a confident smile.

"Both."

There was still a short time before the duel started, but the girls took the time to settle into their fighting stances. Or at least Asuna did. She merely pulled her foot back so she'd be able to kick off the ground better when the time came and raised her rapier. Ichigo, on the other hand, leveled her sword directly at the height of Asuna's shoulders. …her _heart_. And she was grinning.

Asuna wanted to ask about it, but there was no time. The countdown reached one.

Both girls kicked off the ground.

* * *

"… it was a pretty weird quest."

"It does sound that way… I've never heard of something like that before. For an NPC to turn out to be a boss, they have to have an HP bar, they can't just… turn. Unless if the rules somehow got changed, but it still should have left some kind of a hint. It has to, in order to give the players a chance to figure out the trap."

"That's what I was trying to tell them, too, but _no_. Sigurd had to rush in and risk failing! I mean, I understand all that EXP and money was important, but he could have waited for a moment. We would have had much easier time."

Leafa couldn't believe it as Kirito gave yet another noncommittal hum.

At first, when that Recon had actually dared to start talking to her brother, she was honestly surprised, even a bit proud of him. Recon wasn't much of an outgoing person and from his usual behavior she'd think he wouldn't dare to look at Kirito twice after what they'd witnessed happening to that Salamander Carter. Granted, he was a bit nervous at the start, but right now they were talking about the games in such technical terms that even Leafa, who had been playing for _months_, couldn't quite understand it all.

What was truly infuriating was that even Recon seemed to be getting along with Kirito better than she could. Ever since they'd started talking about the games, she'd barely been able to throw in a sentence or two and yet neither one of them regarded it as a big deal. They'd just kept going. Leafa had a feeling that if she decided to fly the other way, it would take them a while to notice.

_Boys, _she thought indignantly.

But still, she had to wonder. Kirito never came out and outright said it, but he and Asuna had to be pretty close. They had to be friends. She'd gotten that much even before she'd known Kirito was actually Kazuto, but now she was trying to figure out exactly how close. He didn't push them to fly faster, nor did he try to push Recon beyond his limits, which was honestly surprising, but he insisted they should keep moving even when they couldn't fly. It meant that reaching Arun was important and it had to do with Asuna, as that much he'd actually voiced out loud. Leafa had wanted to ask about that a hundred times by now, but interrupting their talk for that alone would come off as rude on her part, so she held back.

It didn't make his conversations with Recon any more meaningful and any less frustrating.

So when Kirito suddenly stopped walking to the point where she practically crashed into him, she had to wonder if everything was okay with her brother.

"Eh? Onii—?"

"Maybe we should go the other way," he said suddenly.

"What other way? I thought you were in a hurry!" Leafa snapped. Then she got to see what he was looking at.

High in the air, still quite a bit ahead of them was a large dragon that had to belong to nobody else but a Cait Sith player. The orange belts it had around and the seat placed on the neck were enough of a giveaway. However, the player sitting there was not somebody Leafa was too glad to see at the moment.

Apparently, Kirito seemed to think in similar ways.

"Is that Alicia Rue?" Recon asked.

Leafa was about to say that she hoped not. She lost her chance when Kirito bowed his head and muttered, "Unfortunately."

Leafa raised an eyebrow. The dragon seemed to be looking for a place to land, but what was she even doing here? The last Leafa had heard, the leader of the Cait Siths was supposed to be somewhere in the Leprechaun territories. Or was that a part of her team? Leafa wasn't sure. There was something about Sylvain mentioned, too, but she hadn't been paying too much attention at the time.

Kirito's reaction was peculiar, nevertheless.

She heard him mutter something as Alicia's dragon started descending towards them and started waving in their direction.

It was as if she was _trying_ to involve everyone into the conflict between her and Eugene, regardless of their will. The Cait Siths, the Salamanders, the Sylphs and even a large part of the Imps was involved and even Kirito knew that something was going on.

_Well, everyone knew that by now_, Leafa reminded herself. The problem was that nobody knew exactly what.

"You think there's a chance we can run?" Kirito asked quietly.

Leafa merely shook her head. They could run however much they liked. The fact of the matter was that Alicia was coming in their direction and her dragon was quite a bit faster than their running would ever be.

"Thought so."

A bright and cheerful voice reached them. "Ah, hi there, Leafa!"

"Uh, Alicia-san… hi," Leafa responded in less than enthusiastic fashion.

But rather than to notice that, Alicia's eyes froze on Kirito. "Do I know you?"

Suddenly curious about it, too, Leafa turned to look at him. Her brother just sighed.

"You should, yeah. I just look a bit different."

Alicia pouted as she gave Kirito a very good look. "Yeah, I think so, too. You… oh, I know now. You were with the Flaming Wolves guild!"

That… wasn't what Leafa expected. So her brother was on friendly terms with Alicia, too? Who did he _not_ know? Even more than that, he… he seemed quite a bit more outgoing.

Thinking back, five people including Leafa tried to help him get to the top of the World Tree. That silly Salamander, Klein, had to be a good friend of his at least. He seemed to be getting along with Ame and that Leprechaun girl well, too and then there was Asuna. That was a lot more friends than Leafa remembered him ever having.

She still couldn't figure out how Alicia recognized him, if she'd known him from before that quest. He looked a lot more like himself, actually: black hair that was almost covering his eyes, completely dark clothes and black eyes. The mischievous face she'd previously seen was gone, replaced with a neutral one, much like his real face, yet still not the same. He even sported the same dark clothing, a short black jacket over a dark grey shirt and dark trousers. For some reason, there was no single piece of armor anywhere on him. If it weren't for the pointed ears, he could pass up as a human among fairies.

Leafa didn't think that was fair. She'd gotten a bit of a chance to complain about it, that he looked too much like himself, but the most she'd gotten was Kirito's comment that Klein and Asuna also looked a lot like themselves. In the end, she deduced it had something to do with SAO and dropped the matter altogether.

Alicia looked around curiously. "Did you leave the guild? I don't see Ichigo anywhere around."

"I think she's still in Arun," Kirito admitted.

"Could be. I remember Sang complained a bit when I sent him to the Leprechaun territory, he mentioned something related to that. Anyway, you should probably go. Eugene is coming this way. I think he still wants to fight you."

"I was afraid of that. There's no chance I can win with this." He indicated at his starting gear. "And I thought fighting him on better terms than the last time would be fun, too."

Leafa had to wonder where that came from, as his voice sounded wistful.

Alicia seemed to notice it as well, as she looked at him incredulously. "Really? You _want_ to fight him? Didn't you basically convince him to surrender the last time?"

"Finishing that battle would have been pointless, there'd be no winner."

"I know. Nobody has ever done that, though. I guess I could help you out since you'll be delaying him, anyway. I have some weapons I got as drops a few days ago so I'll sell you if you like" She opened her menu and started scrolling. "Let's see… a two-handed battle axe… daggers… two-handed longsword?"

"Anything one-handed?" Kirito asked.

"One-handed Katana… one-handed… broadsword. I think. The stats aren't too high, but it's pretty strong. Watch out, it's heavy."

What she materialized was a dark grey sword starting with a wide blade, then narrowing down sharply. It seemed rather heavy and several sizes too big for somebody of Kirito's size, but when he took it, he seemed to be holding it effortlessly.

"I was going to sell it to an NPC when I got to Sylvain, but if you like it…"

"It's better than the one I have now. It'll do. Thanks, Alicia."

She grinned as she opened the trade window. "I should be thanking you for helping me out. Again."

"H-hey! Come on, you're selling it for five Yurudo?! Alicia-san! You're joking, right?"

She winked. "You're helping me out. You get a ninety-nine percent discount."

"That's too much!"

"Well, I could also double its real price, I suppose. Do you want me to do that?"

"Uh…" Kirito bowed his head.

As if that made the point clear, Alicia smirked. "Good. Then you'll settle for this. But do me a favor and delay him for as long as you can, okay?"

"Why are you even making him chase you? I don't get it."

For a moment, the Cait Sith looked thoughtful. Then she sighed. "Ask me that after you win. I might just decide to answer you then."

"Don't forget you said that."

"Never!" She then activated her wings and landed into the seat of her oversized pet. "I'm going, then. If you happen to see any of the Wolves before I do, give them my greetings! Or better not. I still owe it to Ichigo… Well, anyway, see you around!"

Kirito didn't say anything as her dragon lifted in the air, only raising his hand in greeting. He then looked at his newly purchased sword with interest.

Leafa couldn't believe how unaffected he seemed to be with the whole thing. He just struck a deal with the leader of the Cait Siths and was intending to fight the general of the Salamander army. Was this really the same person she'd been living with until his unfortunate time in SAO?

_No, it isn't,_ she realized.

He'd changed. He'd changed a lot. Perhaps too much for her to understand at once.

"You were just kidding right?" Recon asked suddenly. "You're not really intending on fighting Eugene? Right…?"

"I'm… curious. The last time I fought him, I almost lost, but… I want to know how it would end if it were one-on-one instead of a group fight." Then he groaned. "Asuna is probably going to strangle me. And Ichigo might just decide to cleave me in pieces because I didn't tell her about this."

"…those are pretty strange things to be worried about, considering whom you're intending to fight," Recon pointed out.

"Maybe. But girls can be scary."

"Scarier than General Eugene?"

"Hey!" Leafa protested.

"Sometimes."

"I'm standing right here!"

Recon cowered, instinctively moving away from her. "I see what you mean…"

"Anyway, we don't know exactly where Eugene is, right?" Kirito asked finally.

"I'd say right there."

Kirito looked up at the sky where Leafa's finger was pointing. It was still in the distance, but there were about four red dots flying in their general direction. Kirito's eyes narrowed.

"Let's hope they see us before they see Alicia."

"I'd rather hope for the opposite," Recon pointed out.

Leafa wanted to roll her eyes, but in this particular instance, she actually had to agree with Recon. Kirito, on the other hand, looked almost eager.

_How much do I not know about you?_ she wondered.

It was hard to imagine that the time she'd spent looking at his unconscious body was the same time he spent living inside a different reality. It didn't make it any less true, unfortunately. Looking at him now, she felt like she was looking at a stranger rather than somebody who'd grown up in the same house as her.

Kazuto had always been distant, immersed in computers and caring about her, but this person, Kirito, was different. There was much more to him than she'd ever noticed before.

_That's okay. As long as I can get to know you, really get to know you, that's fine. It doesn't matter how long it takes._

It would be troublesome if _Recon_ of all people ended up being closer to him than Leafa, though. And as she watched her schoolmate rolling his eyes and giving Kirito a rather sarcastic 'Good luck', to which he responded with nothing but a tiny confident smile, Leafa realized the chances of that were pretty high.

* * *

By the time Kirito first thought his idea might be a bit irrational, he'd already succeeded in getting the Salamanders' undivided attention. And how wouldn't he, seeing as he used his wings in the last possible second to fly up and get right in their way.

To say they weren't happy would be a severe understatement.

Kirito was just about beginning to wonder exactly why he was doing this and where his idea had come from when Eugene spoke.

"And just what do you think you're doing?"

At once, the uncertainty dispersed, leaving only a glimmer or excitement behind.

"I… Well, saying I'm helping a friend wouldn't be quite right. Still, it comes pretty close."

"That so? Then you won't mind if I just cut through without bothering to talk to you, right?"

Kirito shrugged. Just outright saying his name wouldn't be good enough. He got that much merely by looking at them. They weren't treating him as a threat; they were treating him as a reckless and overconfident fool.

_Something I might as well be, _he thought quirkily as he put his two fingers together and pulled.

The Salamanders watched him in silence. Eugene frowned at the window that appeared before him. When he looked up at Kirito, absolutely nothing changed in his face. But something did change in his eyes. They were burning, whether in excitement or anger, Kirito wasn't sure, but the eagerness was there.

Then he dismissed the window.

Kirito blinked. "Wha—?"

"No time to waste." Eugene smirked. "I'll fight you the old-fashioned way."

The Salamanders started objecting. "But Ge—"

"You can go on if you like. This is one-on-one."

"Hell no! I wanna watch this!"

"Then shut up," Eugene said testily as he drew his sword and leveled it at Kirito. "You ready?"

Kirito didn't voice out an answer to Eugene's question, preferring to just look at his opponent in the way that told him exactly what he wanted to know. He tried to make a quick analysis of the weapon, but it was the very same one that caused him severe damage in their last fight. _How does it work?_

Apparently, Eugene got his message, because in the next moment, he charged without mercy.

* * *

_God damn it!_

Ichigo didn't think Asuna would be that fast.

Heck, she didn't think anyone could _be _that fast.

Her initial idea had consisted of a basic plan: strike and evade. Rapier users often had their own styles and fighting somebody who uses that weapon by parrying, especially if you lack experience, is not a good idea. After all, the few of them actually using rapiers used some freaky weird stuff they got to learn in European swordsmanship practices and fighting that with an oversized one-handed sword was going to end in you getting hit one way or another.

And not getting hit was important in a first-strike mode duel.

Regardless, Asuna's way of fighting was something else entirely.

On their first clash, Ichigo had the advantage of strength and the size of her weapon.

On their second clash, Ichigo was using those advantages the best she could.

On their third clash, Ichigo wasn't sure what happened. Asuna's speed doubled (more like tripled) and she only barely managed to avoid earning a cut to her face and consequently losing the duel.

Now, she was purely on defensive.

What Asuna was doing consisted of thrusts and jabs with an occasional slash, but at the speed she was performing them, they were a blur. Most of the reason Ichigo was still standing was that the fact her weapon's blade was bigger than most. It was thicker and heavier and slightly broader than that of Asuna's. It required less movement for her hand and thus enabled her to match up to Asuna, if only a little bit.

At this rate, it was a one-way first-class ticket to a humiliating defeat.

_I knew this was a bad idea! _

Asuna's way of fighting left her with many holes in her defense, some of which were so glaring that Ichigo couldn't believe what she was looking at. On the other hand, exploiting those openings rivaled with mission impossible. The Undine girl was just that fast.

Finally, Ichigo's patience ran out.

Fighting in a stalemate wasn't her style, anyway.

Instead of countering one of Asuna's next attacks with all her strength, she let the girl's momentum push her backwards and simultaneously activated her wings. They carried her even further away, out of Asuna's reach.

The Undine looked rather surprised as Icihgo flew higher.

She smirked. She bought a few seconds with that, but the continual parrying was starting to take its toll on her HP. She was merely one percent down, but compared to Asuna's full bar, that wasn't so good.

However, she wasn't flying.

Asuna put her guard down entirely, but rather than do what Ichigo had expected of her to do, she didn't try to fly up and attack.

_Smart girl._

"Are you going to come down anytime soon?"

"In a bit. Gotta pull myself together. It's scary how fast you are."

"Thank you."

"Come to think of it, why didn't you come after me?" Ichigo asked. "One well-placed hit and I would've lost."

Asuna gave her a look that plainly said _I see what you did there_. Ichigo couldn't help it but grin.

She was glad, really. If Asuna had fallen for her little trick and followed her, her biggest asset, her speed, in this battle would be reduced for a significant amount, to the point where Ichigo's chances would have been much greater. Unlike Asuna, she had experience in fighting airborne, after all. But Asuna didn't fall for it and Ichigo had to admit it that she was glad. It gave her a chance to use something she'd been working on, perhaps help her develop it a bit more.

_This is going to suck,_ she thought with a wide smile on her face.

If she were fighting somebody like Todoh, Amber or Kirito, who relied on strength along with speed, this would be suicide. Well, against Amber not really, but the other two would trounce her no problem. Against Sang, even though he did rely on speed only, it would also be suicide. He'd fought her quite a few times and her new style was far from perfect: she only started practicing after she inadvertently lost her right arm in one of her fights. Even though it was different from the usual way she fought, Sang would have no trouble winning merely because of his experience.

Ichigo was sure Asuna had more experience than her entire guild put together.

Asuna was also much faster than Sang.

But unlike Sang, she didn't know Ichigo well. She had no idea that Ichigo didn't always like to play fair. Especially not when she was so outmatched.

"Get ready," she told her easily as she stretched out her arm and pointed the tip of her blade towards Asuna.

Ichigo opened her status window and browsed through her inventory until she found it. Then she looked at her opponent and smirked.

Asuna bent her knees a bit and looked ready to take whatever Ichigo had to throw at her.

_Good luck dealing with this!_

From the air, she charged.

Asuna's weapon stopped hers with more strength than she had been prepared for. The collision lifted a cloud of dust and sent both the girls' hair flying. Ichigo's attack did, however, manage to push the girl backwards a bit.

With their weapons in the lock, there wasn't a whole lot they could do. Well, in Asuna's case. Ichigo had been expecting that. She reduced the distance between them even more while pushing with her sword. From Asuna's face, it was evident that this was the kind of close combat she would rather avoid.

Ichigo gripped the weapon in her left hand, a dagger, then in a rash move tried to cut off Asuna's wrist.

Keyword: _tried_.

Asuna saw it coming a moment before it did. In the last moment, almost panicking, she jumped so far backwards that Ichigo ended up stumbling at the sudden lack of resistance.

Stumbling in the middle of a fight was a bad thing to do. Very, very bad.

Her «Silent Abyss» had been the only thing that saved her from getting hit by Asuna's next jab. Unfortunately, her lucky counter only disrupted her balance further and she went stumbling backwards.

A moment before Asuna's strangely silver rapier got her, she managed to use her wings as a last save and fly.

She watched the piece of clothing Asuna had sliced off dispersing and took a deep breath in relief.

"Oh come on, are you going to do that every time you're about to lose?" Asuna asked in exasperation.

"Don't you think the third shot is the lucky shot?"

"Why don't we find out?"

"Sure, but I need to come up with a plan first. Can you wait that long?"

"… Your mock attempts in trying to get me to fly really aren't going to work, Ichigo-san. I can wait the whole day if you'd like, it's not like I have anything better to do."

"Oh, right. I forgot. There's no way that I'll get you to fly at all, is there?"

Asuna smiled. "Not a chance."

"… that's too bad. I do enjoy fighting in air. Okay, I have a plan now. Wish me luck?"

Asuna tilted her head, but didn't speak. Ichigo grimaced.

"Fine, don't do it."

She then placed the dagger in her right hand while gripping her sword in the left. The change in the weight balance felt off and fighting this way for a long time was only going to get her killed, but for now, it should do.

If nothing else, she still had her reflexes. She hoped they were faster than Asuna's attacks.

Then she charged.

If Ichigo knew anything, it was that her idea was obvious to Asuna. Rather than to focus on the dagger she was trying to attack her with, Asuna's eyes were glued to the oversized sword. She didn't move, not until the last moment.

What she did then was the last thing Ichigo had been expected her to do. If she'd tried to parry, which Ichigo thought was an option only if Asuna was overly confident of her victory, then Ichigo would have won. If she'd tried to evade, changing the route of Ichigo's attack to keep up wouldn't be a problem.

Instead, she jumped and used her wings to keep her from returning down.

Ichigo managed to spin, swing her sword and stop the attack coming from above in the last moment. When their swords collided, her hand trembled. The awkwardness of her position brought her down to her knees, but she refused to give in.

Asuna managed to push her sword away with force that made it inevitable for Ichigo to lose the hold of her sword, leaving her completely open at the front. Asuna pulled her rapier back and prepared to perform one last thrust that would end it all.

_Fine, so be it! _Ichigo thought stubbornly.

She held her dagger like her life depended on it and slashed forward.

Both attacks were bound to hit. There was no getting away. The question was only whose would hit first.

"STOP!"

The sudden exclamation ruined it all. Asuna's rapier missed Ichigo's shoulder by mere millimeters, cutting of several strands of her hair. Ichigo's dagger stopped at roughly the same distance from getting stabbed into the Undine girl's side.

Less than two meters away from them was Ame, rapidly blinking at the scene while neither Ichigo nor Asuna moved.

"I'm not gonna ask," she said in a careful voice. "But before you decide to kill each other, you might want to take a look at something."

"Eh… what?" Asuna asked. She pulled her rapier away from Ichigo, then returned it back to its sheath.

Ichigo sagged in relief and unequipped her dagger. Then a window appeared in front of her. The most she got to read was that it was some sort of an invitation and that it was from Ame, before her finger automatically approved.

A tablet-sized window opened and started loading. A moment later, a video started playing.

"What… what is this?" Asuna asked in confusion, the same happening in front of her.

"Battle of the month!" Ame exclaimed. "Kirito vs. Eugene live! I logged in not two minutes ago and I was just looking for you when one of my Salamander friends sent me this. I couldn't believe it at first, but it's our Kirito, right?"

Ichigo blinked several times as she focused on the video. What could be seen was a zoomed in, bad quality video of two players engaged in a swordfight. There where occasional moments when the picture cleared enough and anyone who'd ever gotten to see Eugene live would be able to recognize him.

As for his opponent, not so much.

But from the way he was fearlessly making narrow escapes from Eugene's sword's unique ability was enough of a giveaway for Ichigo to guess, even though the player himself hardly looked like the Spriggan she remembered.

Asuna, on the other hand, didn't seem to need even that much.

"Why is this such a big deal?" she asked to Ame with a slight frown.

Ame's eyes widened and she started spluttering incredulously, "Y-you… you…!" but then she gave up. "You have no idea who Eugene is, right?"

Asuna merely shook her head.

Ichigo cut in before Ame could say anything more.

"Your boyfriend is fighting one of _the_ best players in this game. The leader of the Salamanders. And according to this, he's been holding his own for over three minutes now. This is the first time anyone has ever lasted this long ever since Eugene got that freaky sword. Of course it's a big deal! Plus, Eugene really has it out for him, seeing how their last encounter ended…"

Still, Asuna looked unfazed.

"Should've known he didn't just decide to test out the best player," she sighed. "Well, that's okay. It's not like I can tell him what he can or can't do…"

"So you think he has a chance to win?" Ame asked. "Against _Eugene_?"

"I don't think he'd be trying if he though there was no chance for him to win," Asuna said simply. "That said, this Eugene person doesn't seem to be weak."

"He's not," Ame said. But before she could have added anything else, laughter stopped her. Both Undine girls turned to look at Ichigo who sat down and had trouble controlling her laughter.

"Ichigo-san?"

"Sorry, sorry. But I need some popcorn. This is gonna be _awesome._ I just wish I learned about it earlier. Watching this in person would be so much better."

Asuna and Ame exchanged wary looks as Ichigo continued laughing uncontrollably.

"You think she's gone of the deep end? Or am I the only one worried here?" Ame asked.

Asuna merely shrugged, then beckoned the Navigation Pixie named Yui to join her while watching the fight. Then, in a ridiculously careless voice, she said, "Ichigo-san is right. Getting some popcorn now would be great."

* * *

Kirito ducked under the swing that would have taken his head off if he'd been any slower. Or at least he thought it would—he couldn't be sure anymore. Trying to establish the pattern for when Eugene's blade would pass right through its target or clash against it was impossible.

At first he thought it was that every other swing turned the blade ethereal. He learned the hard way that it was not exactly right, but he had a feeling he was close to understanding it. He stayed on defense solely so that he could figure out how the attack pattern worked and why, even when Eugene's sword passed right through his, it still somehow ended up hitting him.

He had one theory. There was only one way he could test it out. He didn't like that way very much.

If he got hit, his forty-five percent HP would go down significantly, if not completely.

For once, he was glad his skills carried over from his SAO stats. At least this way he had a chance.

He narrowly avoided yet another Eugene's attack and tried to slice the blade in two, but Eugene saw it in time. Kirito's large sword went right through while Eugene's proceeded to make a cut in his upper arm.

Several more points of his HP dropped.

This was becoming frustrating. Every point he'd lost so far, he'd lost because of such hits. From their last fight, he'd known what to expect, so he was always ready to pull back before Eugene dealt some serious damage.

Figuring out how to counter it was still in progress, unfortunately.

On the bright side, Kirito thought as he pulled back to the point that he was practically leaning against the trunk of a tree, he now had a pretty good chance to test out his theory.

Eugene's weapon was coming straight at him. Kirito held out his sword to parry.

Again, it passed right through. Again.

Then Kirito moved away. The blade crashed straight into the tree.

Eugene pulled it back immediately, look of surprise in his face, but the damage was done. Kirito now knew what he had to do.

"Su—err, Leafa! You have any weapon you could loan me for a bit?!"

"A—a katana, if you think—!" she cut off with a gasp as Kirito ducked under Eugene's attack and attempted to counterattack. A thin red trail remained behind, but the damage couldn't have taken more than a few points. And unlike Kirito, Eugene had a lot of them to waste.

"That'd do! Throw it!"

Leafa drew her katana, but hesitated half-way through. Kirito saw several Salamanders looking conflicted whether they should stop her or not. She saw it, too. Good for him, though, that got her to react. She flung her Katana in his direction, only barely missing Eugene's shoulder. Kirito grabbed it by the hilt somewhere above his head.

"Thanks!"

"Huh. Don't bite off more than you can chew, kid," Eugene muttered with narrowed eyes.

Kirito smirked. "I'm not."

He proceeded to attack.

A katana didn't feel right in his hand. It was too light; too different. The length didn't match and design of the weapon was entirely different. But it would have to do. Otherwise, he didn't stand a chance.

Idly, he wondered if trying to recreate one of the dual skills from SAO would work with two so unbalanced weapons. Probably not, but nothing stopped him from trying later.

For now, he had to make sure he won.

Euegene took his attack head on, stopping his X-shaped attack.

The blades stayed in the lock briefly, until Kirito used all the strength he could to push Eugene away. The Salamander, unable to completely withstand the force, used his wings to fly up rather than crash into one of his panicking subordinates.

Kirito didn't give him time to attack.

He launched right after him, but Eugene recovered quickly. By the manic gleam in his eyes, Kirito could tell what would happen a moment before it did.

Eugene's sword passed right through his own, heading straight for his neck. Its progress was halted when Kirito whipped out Leafa's katana. The force of collision blew Kirito's hair straight in his eyes, but he didn't let it bother him.

Eugene scowled.

Kirito sighed.

_Note to self: get better weapons as soon as you get to Arun. Doesn't matter how difficult a quest it takes._

Then he forced Eugene's sword away and started attacking madly.

First, the katana swept out, followed by a quick but powerful thrust with his one-handed sword. Eugene blocked, but the sheer force of it was outstanding. He slashed with katana once again, then proceeded to attack from above with the great sword.

The form of Eugene's sword shimmered as he tried to pass through the great sword, but was once again halted by Leafa's katana. Unfortunately for him, Eugene didn't have such a protection. And Kirito never did stop the swing of his great sword.

A wide red trail remained in Eugene's chest, where Kirito's sword hit. The hit points of the Salamander dropped close to the yellow zone, but it was still far off from where Kirito's were.

It didn't end there.

Kirito lashed out with his weapons without hesitation even as Eugene used his sword's special ability. It was an offense with no regards to any possible ways of defense. Eugene's sword embedded deeply in Kirito's side while Kirito's got stabbed in the Salamander's abdomen with no regards to the armor.

They forced their weapons out at the same time and proceeded to attack.

Kirito's swings fell into the beginning motions of «Starburst Stream». The horizontal slash with his great sword was batted away, but Eugene barely stopped the uppercut slash of his Katana. He got merely a second to recover before Kirito spun full circle and proceeded to slash with both swords from left to right.

The balance was all wrong. Recreating the skill till the end would be impossible, but it worked well enough for now. Eugene was blasted into the distance and only quick use of his wings stopped him from getting away further.

Kirito repeated the same attack, but Eugene's counter was better this time. With a yell, he tightened his hold on the katana before proceeding with a downward X-slash. Eugene tried to counter with his sword's special ability, but the most he managed to do was block.

Unfortunately for Kirito, the block had enough strength in it to completely disrupt the balance of both his swords.

Having realized that, Eugene assaulted with all the strength he had. On collision, Leafa's katana gave out. Kirito and Eugene had a matching look of shock when the upper half of the blade dissipated in the air.

Kirito heard his sister's cry, but Eugene's puzzled look was of more importance. He had no idea what he'd done, or how he'd done it.

Kirito, on the other hand, knew it all too well. Eugene might not have known it was possible, but somehow, he got the lucky shot. His sword hit Leafa's at its _only_ weak point. Unknowingly, the Salamander General had triggered the outside-system-skill called «Arms Blast».

But the surprised reaction Eugene had left an opening for Kirito to exploit. The Spriggan slashed his blade upward, removing Eugene's sword from vicinity. It reminded the Salamander that he was still in the middle of the battle. It was too late.

Kirito redirected his sword's slash and left another wide red trail on Eugene's chest. His HP rapidly dropped into the red zone. It also blasted him away far enough for Kirito to get another chance and promptly attack.

* * *

Leafa watched the battle with teary eyes in some kind of stunned fascination. She'd never seen anyone fight that way. Utilizing two weapons and fighting with them for as long as Kirito had done it was something regarded as incredibly difficult. Not impossible, not really, but it came way too close for comfort.

Slicing weapons in two was something she'd only seen him do, too. It was one thing when the weapon's durability ran out and it got destroyed. It was something entirely different when Kirito, and now General Eugene, broke a weapon in two with one hit.

_This is it, he'll lose._

At least, that's what she'd momentarily thought despite hoping for a different outcome. But Kirito used the brief moment when General Eugene took his time to understand what was going on and completely turned the tables on him.

Kirito's HP right now was a bit above the red zone. General Eugene's was only a bit away from being completely lost.

Despite it, Eugene was now back to focusing on the fight. Leafa remembered how things had gone when Kirito had fought with one weapon. He'd lost his one chance to win now. So why wasn't he giving up? If anything, he only seemed to be fighting with more vigor. Eugene couldn't get a chance to activate his weapon's special ability, Ethereal Shift.

"One hit," Recon whispered from beside her. "It'll end in one hit."

Leafa looked at him for a moment, but he was entirely focused on the battle happening in the air. She looked back, hoping he was right. She wasn't sure how long she'd be able to continue watching. And to think that she wouldn't even be able to interfere, now that her weapon was gone…

_Stop thinking about it! He can still win! You saw him fight! If anyone can win, he can! ...I hope._

They were now charging at each other from a significant distance, their weapons a red and black blur. This was it. She could feel it.

Leafa clasped her hand together and held them at her chest, hoping with all her heart it ended well.

Eugene's sword slashed diagonally. Kirito's came from below.

Instead of a collision that would end in a shower of sparks and other light and sound effects, both swords hit their targets. Kirito's embedded in Eugene's right side. Eugene's got stuck deep in Kirito's left shoulder.

Leafa gasped as both the HP bars started dropping. Eugene's dropped to zero and a moment later, his body got enveloped in bright red flames.

Kirito's stopped falling two points away from zero.

He landed exactly halfway from where Leafa and Recon were standing to where the rest of the Salamanders were, with his back turned to Leafa. He breathed in deeply for a long moment, then glanced up at the Salamanders. They exchanged looks among themselves.

Contrary to Leafa's expectations, three pairs of hands started clapping. Her eyes widened in surprise when Kirito merely grinned and gave them a mock-bow. "Thank you, thank you. You won't happen to be able to cast some revival magic?"

"Sorry. The mage team went on ahead," one of the Salamanders said.

"And you, Sugu—err, sorry. Leafa?"

Leafa couldn't help it. She'd asked him nicely to refer to her by her avatar's name already, but he always seemed to be forgetting. She snorted.

"I… can do it," she decided. "It would be nice if you stopped attacking Sylphs, though."

"It's not really our call. We might be able to convince Eugene, but… well, no promises."

"Good enough, I suppose," Leafa sighed. She pointed her hands upward in the direction of a red Remain Light and started chanting the spell.

"Seriously, did you have to go and lose just about all of your HP?" Recon demanded dryly as he approached her brother.

"Sorry, sorry. I didn't do it on purpose. I was lucky I won at all."

Recon snorted. "Yeah, right."

"Dear god… I forgot. I don't have a way of getting in touch with Alicia, do I?"

"That's your own fault," Leafa said as she finished chanting. She carefully watched Eugene as he looked from one side to another, then landed only a bit further from Kirito. She prepared to cast an offensive spell if he decided to attack, but nothing about him suggested he was intending on doing so.

"You're damn good, if I do say so myself," he said calmly.

Kirito looked at him with a slight smile. "Thank you."

"I personally think it would be good to repeat this." Eugene smirked. "I especially liked the look on your face when your weapon broke."

Kirito's smile became noticeably tighter, but he didn't reply.

"You're not going to stand in my way anymore, are you?"

"… I think Alicia got enough time to get away. She would've had it, even if I didn't interfere."

"Probably, yeah," Eugene agreed, then spread his wings. "Well, we're off. I'll catch you later for a rematch."

He then lifted in the air.

Other Salamanders also gave their own greetings as they followed after their leader. Finally, only Kirito, Recon and Leafa remained.

"Do you want me to cast a healing spell?" Leafa offered. "I don't have enough MP left to fix it completely—"

"Naw, it's fine. It'll recover. I already got two points back."

"Two out of four hundred," Recon pointed out with a snort.

"Technically, it's two out of three-hundred and ninety-eight. I already had two."

"As if that makes it much better!"

"Let's just go," Leafa cut in. "Didn't you say Asuna was waiting?"

"Ye-yeah. She _is_. Come on, hurry up!"

He then blasted off in the air. Incredibly strong wind blew in Recon and Leafa's faces, forcing them to protect their faces.

"Oh, come on! That's just not fair!" Recon protested.

"O-onii-chan! Wait up!"

* * *

**Author's Note**: I'm not exactly satisfied with this chapter. It fought me every step of the way. Plus, nothing bad happened. Sure, Sugou finding big flaws in his brilliant plan can't be good, but it's not that bad so long as he can't do anything about it, right? _R__i__ght?_

On a side note, Kirito and Recon are getting along far better than originally intended. Huh...?


	20. Chapter XX

_"Life will break you. Nobody can protect you from that, and living alone won't either, for solitude will also break you with its yearning. You have to love. You have to feel. It is the reason you are here on earth. You are here to risk your heart. You are here to be swallowed up. And when it happens that you are broken, or betrayed, or left, or hurt, or death brushes near, let yourself sit by an apple tree and listen to the apples falling all around you in heaps, wasting their sweetness. Tell yourself you tasted as many as you could."_

**_― Louise Erdrich, The Painted Drum LP_**

**Link to Reality**

Chapter XX

_November 22__nd_

"You should have seen the look on his face when I told him. I don't think I've ever seen him looking so relieved. It's scary how worried he was about Asuna. And to think I barely convinced the nurse to let me go in there. Geez, who cares if it's night? This is more important!"

Klein slammed his glass against the table. The little bit of juice still in there almost spilled.

He felt the enthusiasm in his voice drop when he continued talking.

"I just wish we had a way of getting her out, too. He called me last night, you know? To thank me for letting him know about Asuna's breakout. Silly kid. As if that's something to thank me for. I really thought it'd be over now, you know? But nooo. Whoever's behind what's happening, they're hell-bent on keeping Asuna in the game. They basically made her immortal, damn it!"

"Could it be personal?" Agil wondered.

"Dunno. Kirito thinks it's got something to do with her dad owning Recto Progress. I'll ask him more about it when I log in later. I didn't want to ask too much over the phone, anyway."

He finished the last of his drink, reached for the crutches and stood up. "Anyway, I gotta go. It was good to drop by. It'd be nice if you logged in. Then Asuna might stop complaining because there's no one to keep her company in the morning."

Agil laughed. "Kathy thinks it'll ruin all the progress I've made. Said she won't talk to me if I end up in the wheelchair again. She even confiscated the console when Michelle brought it."

"Ouch. So the one month deal is still on?"

"She figured I wouldn't listen, so she dropped it and asked me to wait till Sunday. I gotta say, it's more than I hoped for."

"She's just worried. My mom went into a panic attack when she came for a visit, let herself in when I didn't open the door and saw me with the NerveGear. Took me hours to convince her not to throw it away. She almost did it, too. Anyway, I really have to go. I have to go for another check up at one, then there's the rehabilitation at four. Man, they're annoying."

"I know. Do drop by more often. I'm dying of boredom here, too."

Klein merely shook his head with a grin before he used the crutches to leave the café. He was proud to say that in two more days, three at most, he'd be free from using the cursed pieces of wood once and for all. It was about time, too. It was getting to the point of unbearable.

As he heard the door shut behind him, he reached for the small piece of paper crumbled in the pocket of his jacket. He straightened it and read the address written on it, then recalled the basic instructions on how to get there. It was a good thing to have somebody in the taxi industry as a friend. Shouta-san knew the locations of just about every street in the city even without using the GPS. If that wasn't damn impressive, Klein had no idea what was.

Fortunately, the place wasn't too far away. In less than ten minutes in his too damn slow pace, he reached the small apartment building. The main entrance was open, so he let himself in without much to worry about. He made the point of checking the apartment number and floor on the little paper before proceeding to climb the stairs.

Occasionally, he'd walk past a bicycle, held in place by a lock that tied it to the fences. It was the first time he'd seen something like that. He wondered if carrying them down was difficult. In his current condition, it would probably be impossible. Then he wondered why they couldn't have installed an elevator in the building. Climbing up the whole way to the fourth floor was tiring.

By the time he reached the third floor, he was cursing, his muscles were aching and he was covered in sweat. Not for the first time, he wondered why the hell he was doing this, but nothing good came to mind. He cursed yet again as he proceeded climbing.

When he finally reached the fourth floor, he was ready to drop. He almost sat right then and there, to get some rest, but he remembered he didn't have much time. Just climbing took him over five minutes.

Checking the apartment number yet again, he approached the door and rung the doorbell. The name written on the small metal plate was the only one he'd seen written in Katakana rather than Kanji and he couldn't honestly say he was surprised.

Heck, normally, he wouldn't have even bothered to go all the way and show up, but something on the inside urged him to and he was happy to comply. Interacting with a pretty girl was merely a bonus.

However, as he stood in the hall a few seconds with no response, he began to wonder. Perhaps he'd even chosen the wrong time. Maybe he shouldn't have come at all. Most of this wasn't even any of his business.

"Coming!"

Some shuffling, then a sound of something hard falling reached him. Klein released a breath he didn't know he was holding, feeling strangely relieved. A moment later, the door opened.

"He—uh… hi, Klein."

Michelle stood at the door, looking appropriately surprised. Unlike how he'd seen her until now, her hair was straightened rather than curly and tied in a single braid thrown over her shoulder. She wore a t-shirt, shorts and was completely barefoot. A moment later, the heat from the apartment reached Klein and he started sweating even more.

As he didn't speak right away, too busy catching his breath, she asked, "What are you—? Err, no. I better ask, how'd you even get this address?"

He shrugged and looked away, murmuring in his chin.

"Sorry?"

"Ichigo gave it to me."

Michelle blinked. "Oh… _Oh._ Well, um… do you want to come in? It's a bit messy and I just managed to knock down an old monitor, but yeah… Come on."

"Eh? No, no! I just came for a bit. I have to be on a check up at one…"

She gave him a skeptical look, then turned to look inside. Even Klein caught the numbers on the large led display that clearly said it was 12:19.

"Well, I'm not having you stand in the hall like that," Michelle decided, then opened the door wider. "Come on in. I'll even bribe you with candies."

"I'm not a kid for you to do that," he told her, but regardless, he walked in, fiddling a bit with his shoes. "Did you set something on fire? It feels like forty degrees in here."

She grimaced. "I've no idea what's going on. Apparently, something has gone crazy in the system. My neighbors kept the windows open the whole night to cool it to reasonable temperatures, but… I don't know. I liked the idea of summer at my place. Too bad, the bill is going to be _horrible _and chances are I'll get sick the moment I go out_._ Anyway, come on, take a seat and take that jacket off. It's too hot to sit in a freakin' jacket."

Klein hummed an agreement, but he left his crutches along with his shoes. It took a lot more effort than he expected, but he somehow managed to make his way to the single sofa in the room and sit. Only then did he proceed to take the jacket off. Just as he'd done it, breathing became much easier. The redness in his face, however, did not go away.

"So… um… what have you been up to?" he asked awkwardly, then quickly looked around the room.

There wasn't that much to see; a single sofa where he sat, a small, warded off part that he thought to be the kitchen and a closed door he assumed was the bathroom. A tiny armchair in the corner had various cosmetic products thrown over it and there was a large closet beside it. A small plasma TV was attached to the wall opposite the computer desk with two led monitors and all the assorted equipment, a big stack of game consoles, the new and the old kinds, the AmuSphere and a box filled with what looked like screwdrivers. That probably explained the large box-like thing knocked down on the floor which Michelle was doing her best to lift up without messing some of the cables attached to it.

"Actually, I was trying out something," she said as she finally pushed it upright. Klein was surprised that once it stood that way, it reminded him more of a TV or a monitor than anything else, only it was too massive. "I bought this thing yesterday. Now I'm trying to take it apart to… well, it's a long story. Anyway, twenty years ago, this was just about the only kind of a monitor you could get."

"And you're taking that monstrosity apart?" Klein asked in amazement. "What for?"

"It's a group project I'm doing with some old friends from high school. But really, taking it apart isn't even my part of the work. I just wanted to see how it looked like. It's supposed to be working, so I hope I didn't break anything. Anyway, do you want something to drink? I don't have to offer as much as Andrew, but—"

"Uh, no, no. I'm fine. That's just where I'm coming from, so really, that's fine."

"You sure? I was serious about the candies. Would you like that? I think I even have some boxes of chocolates if you'd like."

Klein shook his head quickly. "No need, really. I just… you know, came to kill some time. I have a check-up at one and it's not too far from here…"

"So you decided to drop by," Michelle finished for him. Then she gave him a poignant look. "Did Haru ask you to do this? Because I wasn't logging in?"

"Eh? Haru?"

"Sorry, I meant Ichigo. We've been friends since high school so I have a habit of doing that. That's her, right there in the middle."

Klein followed her finger which pointed at the wooden part that covered the upper half of the wall near the desk. It was covered in all sorts of pictures of people, some he recognized and others he didn't. Some of the pictures featured what was clearly Agil and Kathy's wedding, others were obviously from Michelle's high school days, judging by the uniforms, but there were others, too. One of them was actually a picture taken in a bar in Alfheim. He recognized because it was one of the photos Michelle had shown him before.

The picture Michelle was pointing at was right in the middle and looked to be recent, too. On it were three girls, standing in front of some fountain. It was not any scenery he recognized, but there were various skyscrapers visible in the background so it had to be somewhere in Tokyo. Michelle was standing on the right, grinning, her arm thrown over the shoulder of a dark-haired and rather fair-skinned girl. That girl seemed to be a few inches shorter and quite a bit thinner. She had a pretty face and long dark hair falling over her shoulder and was the only one not smiling. She looked more like she was frustrated and taking that picture unwillingly. Klein didn't have to think much. That was Ichigo, all right.

"Who's the third?"

"Eh?"

"The third girl?" Klein said and gestured at the wavy-haired girl who had her hand thrown over Ichigo's other shoulder and was showing the victory sign towards the camera. She, too, was grinning, but something about her suggested elegance while the other two radiated casualness and annoyance respectively.

"Just another friend from high school. Anyway, you didn't answer my question. Did she ask you to come?"

Klein grimaced and kept his focus on the images as he tried to come up with a reasonable response. Blaming it all on that girl would be too easy, but she did have a hand in his coming there. She was the one who'd asked him to do it, actually. But in the end, whatever he was intending to say was lost as he focused on the image somewhere under the one Michelle had initially shown him.

A part of the reason it caught his attention was because it was twice as big as all the other ones and had a date added to it, written in black color in the right corner, June 17, 2022. The other part of the reason was because Ichigo was grinning there.

Klein didn't understand how he'd recognized her at first. Her hair was in bob-style, she was wearing make-up and looking nothing like the girl above. She looked somewhat prettier, livelier and quite a bit younger. Her hands were wrapped around the neck of a thirteen, maybe fourteen-year-old brown-haired kid who didn't quite manage to smile at the camera in time and looked more surprised than anything else. Michelle was there, too, not looking all that different from now. Finally, in the corner, was another thirteen or fourteen-year-old blond kid that didn't seem to fit in and was smiling awkwardly at the camera.

A small piece of paper was glued to the bottom of it, listing all the names in Kanji except for Michelle's. Klein tried to make them out, but it didn't quite work; they were just too small. Under that was another date, although this time it was too small and too far for him to read it. He managed to make out 2023, but nothing more.

Michelle noticed what he was looking at.

"Do they look familiar?" she asked softly.

Klein quickly shook his head, instantly reminded of where he was. "Nah. I just thought it was strange to see her laugh. Anyway, yeah, Ichigo's the one who asked me to come."

"Did she say why?"

At that, Klein scratched the back of his head. "No, not really. She thought I might be able to convince you to go back to ALO, whatever she meant with that. Actually threatened to strangle me if I don't."

Michelle took a deep breath, giving him a look that said she couldn't decide whether to be perplexed or just annoyed. "And you agreed… why?"

That… was a bit more difficult question. Saying it was a favor to a friend wouldn't be cutting it, nor would saying that he was taking Ichigo's threat seriously, as he was curious to hear for himself why Michelle had apparently quit playing ALO. When it came down to it, most of it was because of convenience, however. A big part of it also came from the fact that Michelle was very easy to talk to and he wanted to get to know her better… sort of.

"Well?

"Returning back a favor?"

"Try again."

"Does it matter? I didn't mind doing it, so I guess…" he trailed of, realizing he didn't have anything to say.

Michelle, apparently, seemed to catch onto something as she rolled her eyes. "Never mind. I'll choke that girl some other time for trying to set me up. Again. Do me a favor and if she happens to ask you about this, tell her I threw you out, okay?"

"E-eh? Wait, you're not—"

"I'm not going to throw you out," Michelle confirmed. "I might just decide to get a pillow and throw it in your face, but I'm not going to throw you out."

"But you want me to tell her you did that?" Klein asked uncertainly.

"Yeah. And while you're at it, tell her that MMOFPS games are much better than ALO. That should really piss her off."

"Okay, tell her that—wait, what?"

"Just tell her that, okay? It's bound to piss her off. It'd be better than wasting time to explain her I've spent three hours yesterday talking to this guy from the ministry and that's why I couldn't log in. Much funnier, too."

"Wait, the ministry? Why did you—"

"It's related to Kirito and Asuna's case, actually. This guy, Kikuoka Seijirou, came over to talk to me. You know who that is?"

Klein shook his head. "I talked to some Ri-Ro… I'm not sure about the name, really. First time I heard of this one, though."

"Well, he said he is from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications Technology, I think. I'm not sure. He said he was from the SAO Case Victims Rescue Force, too. He came to see how much I knew about Kirito and Asuna's case. From what I got, he wasn't really acting on duty, though. At least that's how it sounded when I told him he should talk to Kirito rather than me. In the end, he really didn't say much. When I asked, he just said he was gathering information."

"And you told him?"

"Everything I knew. Which really isn't much, come to think of it."

"Did he say anything useful?" Klein asked, but Michelle shook her head.

"He's as bad as, if not worse than Asuna's brother. The most I got was that he now had some sort of an idea what he should do. People are hell-bent on keeping me out of the loop as of late."

Klein nodded thoughtfully, but before he could come to any conclusion, he noticed the time. With his crutches, it would take him well over twenty minutes to get to the designated place and even though he knew he still had the time, but there was one thing he now wanted to do before he had to go for the stupid check-up.

"Thanks, Michelle," he said as he got up and grabbed his jacket. "I have to go, though. Last time I was late, I got a mouthful and I'd rather avoid that now. But what you've just told me sounds like some pretty good news."

"I hope so. Thanks for dropping by, I guess. Next time, though, if you decide to show up so randomly, stay for longer than ten minutes, okay?"

She smiled sincerely, in a way that made Klein's gut twist. He gave her a lopsided grin. "That an invitation?"

"… not quite. I'd still like some forewarning, after all."

Klein sighed as he did his best to make his way to the door. He noticed when Michelle lifted up her hand in an attempt to help out, but before she could have done it, he managed. She didn't say a word about his staggering, though, and for that he was grateful.

"Thanks for not throwing me out," he joked lamely after he finished putting on his sneakers.

Michelle raised an eyebrow. "Next time I might not be as generous."

"Ouch. That's mean."

"Not at all. It's you who came unannounced," she pointed out, but then the facade cracked and she grinned. "Anyway, see you."

Klein gave her a short wave before she shut the door behind him. Then he looked towards the stairs and stopped right before he was supposed to start going down.

"You could really use an elevator here!" he shouted.

He wasn't sure if she heard. He didn't care. It felt good to get that off his chest. Now, though… how the hell was he going to go down without falling?

* * *

Kouichirou sighed as he threw a pill in his mouth and took a long gulp of water from the plastic bottle he had with him, before he continued talking on the phone. Hopefully, it would help him ward off the headache for another hour, if nothing else.

"You said that reporter chick wanted to meet me?" he asked with a sigh.

"Yes, sir. Asked for tomorrow, to be precise."

"Move that for the next week, please. My schedule is full already and I seriously don't want to place _that_ in that one hour I have free tomorrow. No seriously, who does she think she is? Why does she even want an interview on such a short notice?"

"Apparently, there're some rumors going wild on the internet, something about SAO players being trapped in ALO. It reached the public and people are now demanding answers, so that's why she's in such a rush. Doesn't want anyone else to get to you first."

"Tell her she'll get a—wait, what? What rumors?"

"You didn't hear, sir?"

"No. I've no clue."

Awkward silence ensued over the phone. Finally, the caller, one of the Marketing division members, gave him the quick version: apparently, somebody started the rumors about SAO players being unable to log out of ALO and players were starting dig for more information as there were too many people thinking the rumors were true. The day before, it finally reached the reporters, too and it officially became public. Now, audience demanded explanations.

Unable to hold it back in the heat of the moment, Kouichirou breathed out, "Damn. That's pretty smart."

"What do you mean, sir?"

"Never mind. I just saw something… Anyway, keep the schedule for the next week. I'll need time to find out the details and come up with something to say. Heck, what if it turns out they're right?"

"You're not serious about that, are you, sir?"

"I might as well be. Gee. Dad's gonna blow the gasket when he hears. Come to think of it, why didn't I hear about this earlier?"

"S-sorry, sir. Um… I'll get on it right away."

"You do that."

He then hung up and whistled appreciatively. Regardless of how it created bad publicity for the company, Kouichirou couldn't help but feel impressed by the idea he just got. It hadn't occurred to him at all, to use the public pressure to get the authorities to react faster. And if he did a poor job of declaring those facts false, people would latch onto them even more. People would distrust the company and the products (which, admittedly, wasn't a good thing) and the work of the company's SAO rescue team would be observed by the outside experts, as it should have been from the start.

The problematic fact was that somebody in that group was conspiring and keeping the players inside. The even more problematic fact was that he still hadn't found a clue as to who it could be. And he now had an idea what could help him figure it out.

_Damn, why didn't I think of that before? _

He quickly grabbed his phone and typed a quick message to one of the girls from his team, asking her to send him the CVs of the people working in the rescue unit. If nothing else, that would help him narrow it down to the few people who knew how to work with computers. Most of the team was made up of doctors or something, if he remembered right. It would narrow it down quite a bit.

The moment her agreement came, he scrolled down his contact list and dialed a particular number.

His target answered after a single ring.

"Ah, Yuuki-san. Just the person I wanted to talk to."

"Same here. Listen, Kikuoka, I have a plan. I managed to move the internal control for two weeks ahead, it should start in an hour or so, but I don't think that'll get us anything. I figured that whoever is behind this, they'd probably had a damn good way of covering it up till now. Why should that change?"

"I was thinking along the same lines, but I have also spoken to Densen Michelle-san and I have an idea what we could do. However, let me hear your plan, first."

"It's simple, really. Public pressure. It'll ruin the company's rep, but that can be worked around if I get my mind into it. The real clinch is to get the external control here within an hour. We could use somebody from your technicians' team as they'd know what they're looking for. It'd be strange to have both controls happening at the same time, so just sneaking your man in with the internal would work much better. I could take care of the fishy details, too, make sure nobody found out till we get something of a lead."

"… I have just the person to send. My idea was to try to hack the system from the outside and look for the terminals that don't belong. If you could get somebody to bring down most of the firewalls for five minutes and make it easier, it would be perfect. I already applied for authorization based on the now public rumors and a witness, so I should get an approval shortly."

"Right. Attack from two different sides at the same time. One of the two is bound to get something. I'll forward you a number of the person who can help, but I'll have to ask her first. I have to meet her boss, anyway, so it'll be over soon. Or better, I'll just tell her to call and you can arrange everything with her. I'm not that good with all that technical mumbo-jumbo."

"Sounds perfect. Now we just have to make the timing right. But are you sure that this person you'll entrust that task to is worth the trust?"

Kouichirou hesitated. "Jun… is morally sound. If I told her to bring down the firewalls, she'd never do it. But if I explained why, she'd be of a lot of help. I think. I'll let you know when to start hacking. Send somebody here ASAP."

"Naturally. It is nice to cooperate with you, Yuuki-san."

"Wish I could say the same, Kikuoka. Wish I could say the same."

He then hung up just as he reached the twelfth floor.

Absently, he wondered why Sugou wanted to meet him so badly. He'd been trying to get him on the phone since yesterday evening and Kouichirou had been too busy at the time to deal with it. In the end, seeing that Sugou wasn't intending on giving up that easily, he told him he'd drop by as soon as he finished with that noon meeting. Technically, he was already late, but he could care less. If it was something important, Sugou could wait. Saving his sister came first.

"Yo, Jun!" he said when he entered her workplace without so much as a knock.

"What do you want?"

Kouichirou had to give it to her, she didn't even look up from the computer where she was working, yet she managed to sound as if he was interrupting her while she was playing her favorite game.

Kouichirou took a good look to make sure there was nobody else when he walked over to her and crouched beside her chair.

"Jun?"

"What?"

"Look at me."

"Busy. Come back later. Preferably, when I'm not working and when you're not trying to get me in trouble. Again."

"Do you want to be a national hero?"

"What is this? Another take-over-the-world plan?"

Kouichirou snorted. "Yeah, not quite. It's a bit different from that. But I need help and you're the only one who can do it."

"Thanks, but no, thanks."

Kouichirou took a deep breath, trying to come up with a cool way of saying what he wanted to. He couldn't. In the end, he settled for, "Not even if it involves saving three hundred people?"

At that, she did turn to look at him., but she looked suspicious, rather than worried or surprised. "What… is that supposed to mean?" Her voice sounded distrustful and Kouichirou thought she had a pretty good reason for that, but he didn't have the time now.

"Look, this is big. I'm… I'm serious about this. There seems to be a conspiracy going on and it has to do with the SAO players who didn't wake up. Authorities contacted me about it and wanted to see if I could bring down the firewalls so that they could hack in and dig for the truth. I don't trust anyone else here enough to ask from them to do it."

"I can poke a hundred holes in that story," Jun told him sincerely. "Why would they call _you_ of all people? Isn't that illegal without a formal warning or at least a warrant? And—"

"I get it, I get it," Kouchirou groaned. "It's not exactly true and we both know it, but three hundred lives are on the line here. Wish I could give you more details, but the basics come down to this. Asuna contacted me from inside the game. From inside ALO, need I mention? If that's not weird, I've no idea what is. And I don't even want to hear the suggestion to unplug her NerveGear."

"You're kidding," Jun said, but the look in her brown eyes told him she understood a lot more than he'd said. He figured she would. She was one of the few people who had seen what a wreck he'd been when he'd first learned of what happened to Asuna. She didn't need special explanations to know that he wasn't joking about this.

"I'm not, unfortunately," he murmured.

Jun nodded. It seemed that was as much as she needed.

"What happens if it gets tracked to me?" she asked slowly. "I want to help, but a wrong move means I'm going down, along with the whole operation you're trying to execute. I personally don't care if I lose my job so long as it helps those people wake up, but if it gets traced back to me, it might ruin the whole thing. Plus, Sugou-san probably will fire me when he hears, regardless of success. He's notorious about following the rules and this is gonna be my third strike."

"Leave Sugou to me," Kouichirou pleaded. "If in the end he does decide to fire you, you know you'll always have a place in my team. I personally think you should've given him the finger from the start."

"I like this job better," Jun said with a shrug. "Anyway, how do you want me to do it? And when?"

Kouichirou rose up and took a piece of paper, then quickly wrote a phone number, before giving it to her. "Look, I need to go. This is Kikuoka's number, he's in charge of the operation. Stay in touch with him. He'll send somebody in with the internal control and tell you when to bring down the firewalls. The more you can help them access the systems, the better."

Jun accepted the paper and bit her lip.

"I don't have the access from here. At least, not directly. Most of what I have is insight into the player statuses and simple databases."

"Tell that to Kikuoka. I think he'll be able to use even that much. If all comes down to nothing, just search for terminals and log-ins coming from hospitals or something like that."

"Got it." Then she gave him a piercing look. "And what about you? What will you do?"

Kouichirou shrugged. "I'll go look at a picture of a bunny or something. Nothing better than looking at a picture of a big white bunny with long fluffy ears to calm you down. Or even better, a pony."

Jun tried to stifle a laugh, but she failed miserably. "Just don't screw up and look at a dinosaur instead."

"Hey, what's wrong with dino—" he abruptly cut off at the raised eyebrow he got. "Never mind. I don't know what I'll be doing. I'll probably be with Sugou or something. If anything, that's good because I'll be present when the internal control shows up. I can only imagine the look on his face when he finds out his men were sneaking an illegal operation right under his nose."

"Gee, you two really don't get along."

"Understatement of the year," Kouichirou told her dryly. "Anyway, gotta go. I'm already late."

"Okay. For both our sakes, I hope this works."

Kouichirou was half-way out of the office by the time she said it, but before he left, he turned to look at her with a small smile.

"Thanks."

Whether she got what he was really trying to thank her for, he didn't know, but she smiled back. For a moment, she even looked like she wanted to add something. She didn't.

He left the room in at a steady pace and walked further down the hall, towards the room where access was usually restricted. That was one of the stupider rules, in Kouichirou's opinion. Technically, he wasn't even supposed to get anywhere close to the place solely because he was not qualified. Sugou asking him to meet there generally meant that either something big was happening or the man finally stopped sticking to every single word in the rulebook.

He knocked on the door sharply and from the speaker at the side, somebody asked: "Who is it?"

Kouichirou didn't recognize the voice, but that was okay. It's not as if he ever expected Sugou to personally open the door. As if _that_ would ever happen.

"Yuuki Kouichirou," he said clearly. "Sugou gave me the clearance to come in. Err… protocol four-four-one." In much quieter voice, he added, "I think."

For about five seconds, he got no response at all, which was quite a bit frustrating. Anyway, if Sugou already wanted to meet him, why the hell didn't he schedule it in his office? It was right down the other hall. This was just complicating things.

Finally the door clicked.

"Come in, Yuuki."

It was Sugou who spoke this time, although something about his voice sounded decidedly smug.

Kouichirou pushed the door open and stepped inside. His hand casually closed the door behind him as he faced his former friend.

Immediately, he realized something was wrong. He only had the time to see the leer on Sugou's face and suddenly, every single thing that didn't make sense became clear. The missing piece of puzzle, the _who_, suddenly fit right in place and Kouichirou merely had the time for one, single thought that left him feeling cold as if he just jumped into a frozen lake.

_God damn it, if he knows about Jun—_

That was as far as he got before something hit him on the head and everything faded to black.

* * *

Asuna fought a sudden shiver that went down her spine when she saw Kirito enter the pub. It left her feeling strangely cold and alarmed for some reason, though she didn't understand why.

"You okay?" Ame asked.

Asuna merely nodded, her eyes not moving away from the Spriggan at the entrance.

He stopped at the door, looking over the pub in search for her, but the strange feeling left Asuna frozen for a moment. So instead of waving to show him where she was, she merely shuddered again.

Yui had no such problems.

"Papa!"

Kirito only got a short chance to see a tiny projectile before she crashed into his shoulder and attempted to give him a hug with her tiny hands. When that failed, Kirito lifted a finger to poke her cheek, clearly surprised. She hugged that instead.

All feelings of coldness evaporated from Asuna and she had to smile. Seeing it was so cute and she just thought about taking a picture, but she was a moment too late. Yui decided to change her form and a second later, she was just tall enough to stand on her fingers and wrap her hands around his neck.

To say he was stunned wouldn't be covering it, but Asuna found the reactions of the two Sylphs that walked in right after him to be much more amusing. The girl especially looked shocked, her mouth jaw dropping. Asuna herself was surprised a moment later, when she realized that the very girl was actually somebody she recognized.

_Leafa?_

From Ame's story, she knew that Leafa had helped Kirito and the others when they tried to conquer the World Tree to reach her, but she didn't understand why she would be with Kirito now. It was probably something either important or at least reasonable, but Asuna felt strangely relieved that she saw the other Sylph, Recon, with them, too.

"I-it's good to see you again, Yui."

Kirito's voice was quiet, but it carried over because the entire pub had silenced in order to figure out what happened. Navigation Pixies didn't suddenly turn into little girls, but Yui didn't appear to have remembered that at all. It was actually amusing, in a way. Even Ame, sitting right across Asuna, looked shocked. Thankfully, other than the people she knew and the NPCs, there were only a few players in the pub.

Asuna left her seat and walked over to them with a bright smile. She really wanted to berate and complain about Kirito being so late and she had no doubt Yui would support her when she started ranting, but for now… for now, she was just happy to see him there. Well, that, and she felt a whole other jumble of feelings choking her, not letting her speak a word.

He finally seemed to notice her when she came to a stop right in front of them. Then he did something Asuna didn't expect.

His hand that was wrapped around Yui suddenly reached out and grabbed her arm, pulling her into the hug as well. Asuna wrapped her one hand around Yui and other around him, then she buried her head in his shoulder.

At that moment, everything she'd felt from the time she'd been trapped in that cage, from helplessness and desperation to loneliness and fear, suddenly came pouring out. Her arm around Kirito tightened the hold as tears started streaming down her face and into his shirt.

She didn't understand where it was coming from, but she couldn't hold it together. She tried desperately to keep the sobs inside, trying to convince herself that she had nothing to complain about, but unlike when she was alone, this time it simply didn't work.

Her shoulders began shaking as she tried to fight back the tears, trying to reason that this was neither the place nor time, that everything was now over and would be fine, but it failed. The questions that had so far been buried deep inside of her were fighting to come to the surface and all that time she'd spent being strong, fighting and relying on just about any distraction that came her way suddenly felt far away.

Why did it have to be her who couldn't log out? Why was she stuck in this place? What happened to her free will? Why couldn't she leave? Why did she have to be singled out all the time?

None of it was fair. No matter what she did, it never seemed to be enough. What did this world want from her?

She tried voicing out those questions, but she failed miserably. The most what came out were choked sobs that made no sense to either her or anyone else.

Eventually she felt Yui moving away. She wasn't sure whether she transformed back into a pixie or something else, but she was gone and Asuna's hand desperately reached out and wrapped around Kirito's neck instead.

"Asuna…"

Instead of words, what came out of her mouth was more uncontrollable sobs.

"Please… calm down," Kirito whispered on her ear.

It soothed her to just know that he was there, but his words helped her slowly begin putting her feelings back under control.

"Mama…"

She felt two tiny hands touching her arm, but Asuna still didn't dare move. The tears had yet to stop and she didn't feel confident that Kirito would stay there if she let go. She didn't feel confident _she_ would. So the only thing she could do was keep holding on.

"I'll find a way to get you out," Kirito told her softly. "I promise."

It terrified Asuna to learn just how much she wanted to hear those words, hold to them as if they were the last string keeping her alive, but she was losing hope. It hadn't really sunk in until she saw him, but the truth was that the higher forces simply didn't want to let her go. She knew she had to do something, to find a way to fight back, but for a moment, just for a moment, she wanted a break. She wanted a break from everything.

"I'm… sorry…" she managed to whisper. "I… just…"

She felt it when Kirito moved back and she let him go. His fingers wiped the last of the tears that remained on her cheeks before he closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against hers, their noses practically touching.

"I'm the one who should be sorry," he told her. "If I'd known… If I'd known it was this bad, I would have come sooner. Much, _much_ sooner."

"N-no, it's fine… you were late… but I had some time to think and… if you'd come earlier… it would have been worse."

"No, I _should_ have," he insisted. "I should have showed up in the middle of the night, whatever. I thought, with Yui here it would be okay for a little bit, but it's _not_. I see that now. And for that… I'm sorry."

He wiped away yet another tear that threatened to fall, hand slowly caressing her cheek before his lips lightly touched her forehead.

It was surprising how she no longer felt the need to complain about his late arrival at all. He'd told her yesterday he'd be late—he sent it in a message a little after his mom turned off his NerveGear when he was so close and he'd logged in for short to only to let her know about it. So she really didn't hold it against him. She'd wanted to complain, but that complaining would really be nothing but a joke they could both laugh at later.

Hearing how shaky his voice was when he said it now, all she really wanted him to do was stop blaming himself. Because even without him saying it, she understood. The reason why he'd delayed coming there… the reason he didn't try to break through everything and come running despite knowing nothing would really stop him…

He was afraid, too.

Was it because he thought she would be upset that he was free and she wasn't? Or was it because he was afraid to look at her face, considering it unfair that he managed to get out and she didn't? Both options seemed likely, but Asuna had the feeling that it was the latter one that was really bothering him. Coupling it up with the fact that when it came down to it, there was nothing he could do to help her, she really wasn't surprised. She'd probably think in similar ways if their positions were reversed.

"Oh, god, this really isn't the right time and place," she muttered when she finally felt that her would be coming out better.

"You're right about that."

Neither of them moved.

Then, somewhere behind her, Asuna heard somebody clearing their throat. A second later, Ame spoke.

"So, um… should I order the drinks for all?"

Finally, Asuna did dare to step away and take a deep breath. "Y-yeah. I… I guess I could use something sweet."

Ame smiled. "You got it. Recon? Leafa?"

Leafa quickly shook her head. "I'm not…"

"I'll take whatever," Recon said. "This is my first time in Arun… I hope they have something good!"

"They do," Ame assured him. Finally, she looked at the Spriggan. Asuna thought she saw something in Ame's look, something dark, but it disappeared a moment later. Then she asked, as brightly as usual, "You, Kirito?"

He shook his head. "No, I'm fine."

Something about the way he said it made Asuna look up suspiciously. He wasn't exactly smiling, nor was he looking especially different, but she felt she had a pretty good idea where this was going.

"… You're not stealing my drink, if that's what you were planning on."

"No! No, that wasn't it at all!"

Asuna wasn't fooled that easily. Nor was Yui, judging by the smile on her face. But as the five of them sat at the table, Yui on Kirito's shoulder and Ame made the order, Asuna soon began to notice some more details.

Namely, Leafa and Recon were there to stay.

She wasn't sure how or where she got that from, but it was something that she saw in the way they behaved when they sat down. Recon seemed to be a bit apprehensive, but most of all, like he was intending to stay there for a while and get some explanations. Leafa, on the other hand, kept looking from Kirito to Asuna and back, but the expression on her face wasn't something Asuna would deem easy to read. She wanted to say something, but she didn't know from where to start.

Then Asuna remembered something she had to say—a part that she'd kept even from Ame and Tramp until now, solely because she wasn't sure how they'd react. If Recon and Leafa were going to stick around, or even if they weren't, perhaps it would be better for them to hear, too. The more people knew, the better.

She tried to think of the right way to word it when their drinks came. She ignored Ame's playful mentions of Kirito's duel with Eugene and tried to think of a way to break it down in a way that didn't make her sound crazy. Besides, Ame might know most of the things, but she was pretty sure none of it had reached Kirito.

"Ame-chan," she said quietly, interrupting the girl before she could finish her comment. Ame turned to look at her, tilting her head.

"Yeah?"

Asuna bit her lip. "I think I figured it out."

"Figured what out?"

Asuna got several more strange looks, but she really couldn't think of a better way to change the topic.

"What happened to the other players," she said, looking at the table instead of everyone else. "Actually, it came to me back when I was first telling you about it, but I… I don't have any proof, other than this."

Asuna took out the silver card and laid it on the table. Recon and Leafa were mostly confused, but Kirito caught on quickly. He took the card and gave it a long look.

"Where did you—?"

"I found it in one of the rooms at the top of the Tree," Asuna said quietly. "It was in the console. I used it to lift all those restrictions they had on me. It's the only reason I managed to get away, but that is not the point. The room itself—it was filled with three hundred containers. I didn't go in detail about it, so I'm sorry, Ame-chan, but… I wasn't sure. The more I thought about it, the more obvious it became. There is some kind of an experiment being done and that's why there are no other players in the game. All three hundred of them are trapped up there."

"What kind of an experiment?" Kirito asked slowly while Ame gave her a look that asked of her to continue to the important part.

"Nothing good, that's for sure," Asuna sighed. "But think about it. In a Virtual Reality game, nothing other than the brain is affected. What they're doing has to be… has to be illegal or immoral in the least…"

She could see it in his face when Kirito realized exactly what she was getting at. His muscles stiffened, his teeth ground together and the hold on his card got much stronger.

Ame was a tiny bit slower on the uptake. However, when it sunk in, her reaction was far different.

"No!" she gasped, slamming her hand against the table, making half of them jump and two of the drinks spill. Noticing she had the attention of the entire pub, yet again, she sat back down and in much lower voice added, "No… you mean, brain control? Or mind control? That sort of thing? God, no. That's just wrong. That's just wrong on _so_ many levels…"

"That's gotta be it," Kirito said in low voice, completely failing to keep his anger out of it. "A VR game just makes it a perfect cover up." Then he sharply looked in Yui's direction. "Yui, can you use this card to get some sort of information? Anything that has to do with system access or console locations? Even the name of the person using it would do, anything."

She gave him a conflicted, dubious look. "I can try. But I probably won't be able to get anything more than just references."

"Doesn't matter. Even that is better than what we have right now."

She nodded firmly and landed at the table, putting her both hands on the card and closing her eyes.

"… Account ID number… three-nine-three-seven-four-four-two-zero-zero-two… Account name… Date Nishima…"

She then opened her eyes and moved away. "That's the most I could get. All the consoles are located somewhere at the World Tree. Even those which should be located in the game aren't there."

Kirito looked towards Asuna seriously, as if trying to ask if the name sounded familiar, but Asuna could only shake her head apologetically.

"And were you able to get anything on system access levels?" Kirito asked, but he didn't sound hopeful.

"There are three levels of system authority access that can be given to player accounts. There are two more levels above that, but those can only be used by administrator accounts. The GM account can be used by one person only and it's currently active. The coding… it is much like the one in Sword Art Online. The version of the Cardinal System is the older one, though. I'm not sure what that means."

"This sounds like it could be useful, if we managed to get it to the right people," Recon suddenly said. "By the way, you're a navigation pixie. How do you know all that?"

Before Yui could even start giving any kind of response, Kirito cut in, "This is the kind of information you would already have if you had any insight into the game from the producer's point of view. If anything, the only useful information we do have is the name, but even that is questionable as we don't know whether it's the real one or just an alias."

"In other words, we're still at square one," Ame summed up in a depressed voice. Nobody had anything to add.

Asuna shrunk in her seat, suddenly feeling much worse.

"Hey, Asuna, what are the chances of your brother knowing all this?" Ame suddenly asked. "I mean, would he be able to recognize the name, if nothing else?"

"I… I don't know. He'd be able to look it up, I suppose."

"Then it's settled. We ask him," Ame said simply.

"I'll do it," Kirito decided. "I have a way of contacting him. Also, I think he's already suspecting on somebody in the company, this would only help him."

He only got as far as to stand up before Asuna called his name.

"Kirito—!"

The look he gave her cut her off in the middle of the sentence.

"Five minutes. It won't take longer than that."

Asuna opened her mouth to respond, but she was stopped when she saw Ichigo walking over to them.

"Hey," the Imp girl said. "Is this some kind of a gathering without us?"

"Who do you mean by 'us'?" Ame asked with a raised eyebrow. She had a pretty good point, too, because Ichigo was standing there on her own.

The Imp girl rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

"My guild. I understand if you didn't call Amber, since she's too lazy to log in anyway, but you could've called the rest of us for this little get-together. Well, Sang's out, too. Last I heard, he's somewhere in the ring now and didn't even have the decency to let me know about it."

Kirito gave her a small smile. "As cheerful as usual, I see."

Ichigo snorted. "Peachy. Just peachy. How're you doing? I take it you were intending to bow down and apologize for ditching me?"

"Sorry. I'll have to leave that for some other time. I have to log out for a bit."

"Aren't you going to tell me why? Or are you keeping me out of the loop on purpose?"

"I'll tell you—"

"It's okay," Ame interrupted him. "I'll explain it to her. And we'll explain to the silly Sylphs what they've gotten into. They look like we just gave them the books on nuclear physics and we're expecting them to know it by heart by tomorrow."

"You don't have to be so mean about it," Leafa huffed. "We know more than you'd think."

"Sure you do."

Asuna sighed. "Ame-chan, please."

"Anyway, I'll be back shortly," Kirito said, then gave a small smile to Asuna. A moment later, he was gone. Asuna took a deep breath, reminding herself it wasn't permanent.

Ichigo then curiously looked from one person to another, before finally gesturing at Recon to make some place for her to sit. He did and when she sat, she looked at Ame expectantly.

"Well?"

Ame groaned and looked towards Asuna pleadingly. "Where should I start from?"

"You're making it sound as if you're planning to tell them a fable."

"I don't want to leave out the details. It'll just confuse them."

"We're not clueless," Recon pointed out with a huff of annoyance. "Kirito and Asuna-san are former SAO players—I pieced that much myself. The question is why Asuna-san can't log out, why the players are in ALO to start with and how it works. I'd also like to know what's with the Navigation Pixie, but that's isn't really the point right now."

Asuna blinked in surprise. She wasn't the only one. Beside Recon, Leafa looked as if she had not been expecting for this at all. "How did you—?"

Ame just sighed. "Well, that sure makes it easier."

"Start from somewhere already," Ichigo snapped. "The most I know is that Asuna here is the target and it's practically impossible to log her out. Is there more?"

Ame sighed. "… Yep." Then she took a deep breath and started explaining.

* * *

Kirito took a deep breath as he opened his eyes to find himself inside his room. Not many things had changed from the time before SAO. It was still just as lonely place as it used to be. He took the NerveGear off and left it at the side of the bed without bothering to turn it off completely, then focusing on the little strength he had in his legs, forced himself to stand up and walk over to his desk.

It was less than two meters, yet he still would have fallen down if he hadn't caught the edge of the desk at the last moment. He took another deep breath before sitting down at the chair from where he started shuffling through the single drawer, looking for a card.

He was sure he got it during Kouichirou's brief visit. He'd made sure to keep it in case he needed it, but his drawer was full of other kinds of papers, old school tests and many other things.

It wasn't until he took most of the things out that he found it, almost at the very bottom. He wondered briefly how it had ended up there.

He reached for his phone and started typing the number immediately, but instead of the ringing, he got a voice telling him the user was unavailable and asking him to leave a message. Kirito frowned. He hung up and tried again, but the same thing happened.

He turned the card, looking for another number that could be of use, but there was only the office phone. He sighed and decided to try anyway.

"Hello, this is the Public Relations office, how may I help you?"

Kirito exhaled in relief. "Um, this is Kirigaya Kazuto. I need to speak to Yuuki Kouichirou-san urgently, but I can't seem to reach him on his mobile. Do you happen to have another phone number I could call or…?"

"I sincerely apologize. Last I heard, Yuuki-san went to meet one of the CEOs, so that could be why he isn't answering. If you want, I can let him know you've called and tell him to contact you later on. Will that do?"

Kirito sighed. "That's… that's fine. Do you have any idea when he will be available again?"

"I wish I knew. This was an unscheduled meeting so I really don't know when it'll be over. I can assure you I will let Yuuki-san know you called, if it's of any comfort."

"I guess that works. Thank you."

He put his phone down before leaning in the chair and looking up at the ceiling. He'd have to try again later or something, seeing as it would be practically impossible for Kouichirou to contact him after he logged back in ALO, or he'd have to wait a bit before doing it.

The thought left him feeling nervous and on the edge. He'd meant what he'd told Asuna. If he'd had the slightest idea of how she'd been handling everything that happened, there would not be a thing in the world that would be able to slow him down, let alone stop him. Now the very thought of leaving her alone felt wrong.

"Five minutes," he whispered. "I'll wait five minutes. Then I'll call again."

The five minutes came and passed, but Kouichirou was as unavailable as he'd been the first two times. To make sure he didn't forget, Kirito wrote the name, Date Nishima, on one of the papers and put his phone on it. Then he somehow managed to make three steps to his bed without faltering, giving a hard glare to the wheelchair parked in the corner of his room. Beside them was a pair of crutches he was supposed to start using in a few days, but already Kirito knew he'd dislike the time.

Placing the NerveGear back on his head, he spoke the command words and within a minute, he was back in the pub.

However, aside from Ichigo, there was nobody there.

Kirito blinked several times, to make sure he wasn't just seeing things. "Huh? Where did everyone go?"

"Outside," Ichigo responded with a yawn. "Looks like that Tramp kid got in some kind of trouble. I have no idea how he managed to do that, but I'm starting to think he'd be able to snuff out the trouble anywhere."

Kirito stood up. Now that felt good. The sudden change aside, his body in the virtual world felt as light as a feather. He stretched his arms for a moment, then looked at Ichigo. "Isn't trouble your kind of thing? Yet you're the only one who stayed."

"Well, somebody had to make sure you didn't end up sitting on somebody's head when you logged back in. Figured I could sit this one out," she pointed out and took a long sip of a drink. "Besides, I wanted to ask you something. Can you wait a minute before you go out running? Really, they didn't leave the safe zone or anything."

Kirito hesitated. It was a relief to know that they didn't leave the safe zone, but at the same time, it was also disconcerting. What kind of trouble could you get in while inside the safe zone?

Apparently, Ichigo took his hesitation as an agreement. She opened her status window, then proceeded to look through until another window opened before her.

He raised an eyebrow, to which she looked away.

"I'm… trying to keep from mentioning it aloud, it just brings too many… uh, anyway… does this name sound familiar?"

Kirito gave a short glance towards the received message without much thought. Then he froze as he recognized the characters. They rolled of his tongue with difficulty, as if not mentioning, not even thinking about that name made it all the more difficult to say it aloud. He looked at the girl sitting in front of him, the mask of calm on her face slowly crumbling in pieces.

"You know who it is, right?" she asked. For the first time Kirito thought she actually sounded weak, vulnerable.

He bowed his head and stumbled back into his seat, fighting his own feelings of guilt and shame, but also pain and longing.

"Yes," he said simply, but his voice weighed heavily.

"What happened?"

When he didn't answer right away, her voice got louder, more desperate and more demanding.

"What happened to him? You know, right? Just looking at you tells me that much. Tell me. I'm sick of not knowing! For over a year, I've been listening to tales, ideas of what could have happened, what might've happened to my little bro… I'm tired of it. I just want to know the truth…" her voice cracked there and she took a deep shaky breath. "I have every right to know. Please."

Kirito closed his eyes and gave a tiny nod. She did have the right to know. She had the right to know everything. And he never had any right to stop thinking about him… about them.

"Keita's death was my fault," he said in low voice.

The accusing, loud voice demanding voice asking for explanations never came. He waited and waited, but for a long time, Ichigo was quiet. When he was just about to add something, unable to stand the silence that was making his eardrums hurt, she spoke at last.

"How?"

She didn't berate him… she didn't judge. Which made coping with it all the more difficult. He could have taken anything—from a loud cry and a punch to his face that was the least he'd deserved, to desperate accusing and shouting—but not this. Quiet acceptance, hidden pain. A voice that lacked any sort of resentment and only wished for explanations; how could he ever accept it?

But he told her. Leaving all emotion behind, he told her everything that had lead to the destruction of the Black Cats of the Full Moon guild. Bluntly, honestly and with no holding anything back.

By the time he was finished, she had not interrupted him once. Silent tears streamed down her face, but she didn't say a word; she didn't even let a sob come out. By that time, the pain burning inside of him dulled a little, too. It didn't go away. Telling her did nothing to ease the anguish inside of him. If anything, it only made it worse.

"Thank you…"

Kirito looked up from the single dot on the table where he'd been looking at in disbelief. Just what was there to think him for? But he was too late. The most he got to see was the light effect a moment before the form of a crying purple-haired girl disappeared as she logged out.

His shoulders sagged and his head fell down, lacking any strength to keep it upright.

_Just a moment,_ he thought. _A moment only… and then I have to find Asuna._

It took much longer than that.


End file.
